


The Mind Palace Arcade

by tooattachedtofiction



Category: Cartoon Therapy, Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Human Sides (Sanders Sides), M/M, Multi, Sanders Asides Fics, Slow Burn, Sympathetic Deceit, Sympathetic Remus, dysfunctional gays running a business, sanders sides au, themes of abandonment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2020-05-19 09:32:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 49
Words: 51,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19354267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tooattachedtofiction/pseuds/tooattachedtofiction
Summary: Who knew it would all start with an arcade?In which Thomas and Logan create and run an arcade filled with chaotic gays.





	1. 1.0

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is up everybody? Welcome to the Arcade AU!
> 
> This AU was originally created by @cinnasides on tumblr and can be found here: https://sleepless-in-starbucks.tumblr.com/post/185131241634/i-love-the-sides-working-at-a-business-together
> 
> Clam, the author of the original AU, also beta'd this chapter and will hopefully be doing so for the rest! I'm not going to have a schedule for this fic but it'll be updated once a week (or more), at least until school begins again.

In Logan’s mind, 10 PM was considered as late. To his best friend, Thomas Sanders, 10 PM was a time for ideas; both good _and_ bad.

 

Thomas knocked hurriedly on Logan’s front door, practically jumping with excitement. All of the questions of what he was going to do with the rest of his life were finally answered. He knew he wanted to run a business, but  _ what kind _ ? Tonight he had found the ticket to the theater production that was the rest of his life. 

 

“Lo, open up! I figured it out!” He tried to avoid yelling - after all, it was 10 PM on a Tuesday - but Thomas was too excited to worry about the amount of noise he was currently making and ended up sounding like a choked monkey.

 

Logan, who had been in the middle of his tenth re-read of Stephen Hawking’s  _ The Theory of Everything _ , jumped at the sudden sound of his friend’s voice. After quickly gaining (somewhat sleepy) composure, he set the book down and swung open the door. He was about to scold Thomas for the noise he had made, but one look at the jumping brunette changed his mind. 

 

Instead, curiosity got the best of him. “Would you like to tell me what on Earth has gotten into you?” He questioned, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms. Thomas walked in without invitation, not looking up until he had slapped a rather large piece of paper onto Logan’s dining table. 

 

“I figured it out, Lo. I know what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. I mean, it’s a crazy pipe dream, and I’m not even sure it’ll work, but I might as well try.” Thomas said, spreading his arms. His friend closed the door, trailing after the excited young man. 

 

Upon closer inspection, Logan saw that the large paper was made of smaller pieces, and the drawing on top seemed to depict a layout of the building. In the corner, carefully written, was the following:  **_The Mind Palace: Where imagination is royalty._ **

 

“So it’s been a dream of mine since I was little - you know? - to own an arcade. You know the type. A real one, like, like, uh - the ones with all of the original video games. And I didn’t want to  _ work _ at an arcade, that’d be boring, I wanted to  _ own _ one. Make my own rules, do my own thing.” Thomas gestured wildly as he explained. Logan nodded, trying to keep track of Thomas’ thought process. 

 

“And I was working my shift at Starbucks today and I thought, I have a degree in business - that heck, I’m still trying to pay off! - and I’m not  _ doing _ anything with it. And then I remembered my dream from when I was little. I had the name and everything! I used to spend hours thinking about this, and then when I got older, I lost all of that. But they’re back now! I just spent the past five hours working on this.” He slapped the makeshift map proudly, and Logan nodded again, trying to process the circuitous explanation. He stared down at the map.

 

It was messy, but somewhat cohesive. Half erased pencil marks littered the once pristine printer paper, but there were labeled rooms, along with illustrations of the things the arcade would feature. Each was color coded and detailed carefully. 

 

Thomas was his best friend. It had been decided long ago that if one of them went down, the other one did as well. If The Mind Palace sank, then Logan would go down with Thomas. Plus, the endeavor was strangely appealing. 

 

“I don’t know, it’s a total pipe dream. I’m not even sure if it’ll work, or if I can afford the land to build something in the first place…” Thomas’ shoulders sank as he spoke. His excitement was turning into resignment. “But I wanted to show you-” 

 

“Well, we’ll have to come up with money. The bank needs some kind of collateral, and that’s just securing the land. We’ll have to get a construction team too and an architect, unless you plan on buying that old building on Seventh Street, in which case, all we need is money for collateral and games to get things up and running. Of course, this will be difficult.” Logan said, pushing his glasses up his nose before looking up at Thomas. “However, it is, dare I say it,  _ possible _ to make your childhood dream into a reality.” 

 

Logan watched as Thomas’s eyes widened. “You mean it? We’re doing this?” He looked so hopeful. Logan wondered if he was being too optimistic too soon, but he chuckled at his friend’s excitement. 

 

“Let’s get to work, shall we?” 

 

~~~

 

3 years and 134 days later, the two friends stood in front of their arcade. 

 

The first hurdle had been getting the money. Thomas still was unsure how they had managed to get it in the first place, but according to Logan, the city council members were all over the idea of having an arcade again. The kids of the community were too quiet, and the older kids had a record of getting in sticky situations with the law. The money donated was enough for collateral. 

 

The second hurdle was renovating the building. For the most part, Thomas and Logan had done it all themselves, sans the plumbing and electricity. They installed carpet and painted the walls, confirming the layout of the place itself. While it wasn’t exactly how Thomas had originally imagined, the place still had a lot of potential.

 

Despite Logan’s reluctance, Thomas insisted on installing a laser tag area towards the back of the building. This took longer to build than renovating the rest of the place had; installing the ramps and a second floor easily set them two months behind schedule. Needless to say, Logan was mildly irritated by the interruption in his meticulously planned schedule for the arcade. 

 

Strangely enough, the machines and prize counter were the easiest to set up, and they somehow passed the inspection with flying colors. Now, the two young men stood in their best clothes in front of the red ribbon attached to the front doors of the arcade. A large crowd surrounded the steps of it, waiting for the ribbon cutting ceremony to commence.

 

“Thank you for coming today. I’ll keep this speech short.” Logan said, projecting his voice. Originally, Thomas was supposed to deliver the speech, but the poor man looked as if he were about to dissolve into tears at any given moment. 

 

“When we first started working on this, Thomas and I both thought it was going to be highly unlikely for us to make things a reality. The past three years have been wonderful, and things are only beginning.” He grinned at Thomas, who smiled back tearfully, clutching the oversized scissors. “Thank you for helping us make this place real. Now if my partner will do me the honor of opening these doors to the public for the first time..” 

 

Thomas’s grin grew wide as the scissors tore through the fabric. This was it. 

 

He’d made his dreams come true. 

 

_ “The Mind Palace Arcade is officially open!”  _


	2. 1.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Patton Time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Clam for helping me write this and beta reading for me! I'm so grateful! 
> 
> Also thank you to those of you who commented and clicked kudos on the first chapter! That made me so excited to release more and hopefully we can reach maybe 5 comments this chapter?

In the three weeks since the opening, The Mind Palace Arcade had skyrocketed in popularity. Kids, teens and parents alike filled the video game center from opening ‘til closing. 

 

Logan and Thomas spent most of their work days running around, trying to keep everything up and running. While they both were adept with interacting with customers, Logan preferred to focus on making sure that the company wouldn’t go under before it even started working. Laser tag, unfortunately, was still a closed off section, for now. 

 

After closing, Logan approached Thomas, who looked exhausted but happy. The past couple of years hadn’t been easy, but his dream was now a reality. He just had to make sure things stayed that way. 

 

“Thomas, I think we should talk about hiring more people.” Logan said cautiously. All of their other conversations about this had been stressful for both parties involved. On the one hand, it was really early to start hiring, and they barely had money to sustain themselves. On the other hand, they needed another person to help them, badly. Summer break was approaching and the amount of daily visitors would start to accelerate soon. If the two of them kept working at this capacity, they’d spread themselves too thin. 

 

“Logan, we can barely pay ourselves-” Thomas started, but Logan held a hand up. The former sighed and let his friend go on, too tired to argue. 

 

“If you’re worried about payment, we could go back to being roommates until we have enough to live on our own again. We need another person at least. I can’t keep running back and forth between the ticket counter and the rest of the arcade, someone’s bound to steal something, and it appears as poor management on our part. I can write up the application tonight and we can interview everyone when we’re closed. We can also make some short cuts, rearrange things to make this work until we have the money to afford everything. Security will definitely be an issue soon at this rate, and we should think about investing in, at the very least, an alarm system.” Logan said, mentally checking off the boxes in his mind. He looked up at Thomas, who was nodding tiredly. 

 

“One problem at a time, Lo.” Thomas grumbled, yawning as he did so. 

 

In addition to creating the application, Logan spent the night pouring over spreadsheets, figuring out how the two were going to survive until they could accurately sustain another person on the team. Budget plans were created, and by the end of the night, he was confident that this could work. 

 

It had to, for both his sake and Thomas’s. 

 

The Now Hiring sign had been up for a week, and, despite the number of people walking in everyday, no one asked for an application. 

 

That is, until Patton Picani showed up. 

 

Patton Picani was fresh out of school, just like Logan and Thomas. He’d graduated with a Bachelors in Communications, and needed a job. He didn’t want to go into technology, so he figured public relations could be a step in the right direction. 

 

Unfortunately, he found out the hard way that the return counter of a department store wasn’t for him. The negativity was so intoxicating, leaving Patton drained every day after work. No one who approached him ever seemed happy. 

 

He wanted to be in a place where he could make people smile. He wanted to make the world a little more hopeful. That had been the reason why he chose Communications as a major. 

 

When Patton found the sign, he walked right up to Logan, who had been helping a group of kids figure out what to do with their tickets. Eventually, he whisked them off with inflatable swords and enough candy for a sugar rush. They ran outside, chasing each other with their newly equipped toys. 

 

“Alright, how many tickets do you have?” Logan asked, putting on a smile that he often reserved for customers only. Thomas liked to refer to this as the “pleasure doing business with you” smile, which often caused Logan to glare at him. 

 

“None, actually. I wanted to apply for the job. The one you posted outside.” Patton fidgeted a little. “I’m sorry, I don’t have much experience with applying to things in person.” 

 

Logan looked at Patton for a second too long, observing his hopeful smile. He snapped out of it quickly, though, clearing his throat and adjusting his collar a little. “Right, here’s the application. My co-manager and I will look over it and contact you for an interview after you fill this out.” He handed Patton a clipboard with the application attached, along with a pen. “I’m Logan Sax.” He held out a hand, and Patton shook it.

 

“Patton Picani.” 

 

~~~

 

Patton found himself back in the arcade two days later, dressed in a button up and khakis. Logan was in the front of the building, waiting for him.

 

“Good morning.” Logan greeted. “I’m afraid I should warn you about the state of our office, it’s a little cluttered and… _unprofessional_ , at the moment.” He led Patton inside, past the arcade machines to a closed off corridor.

 

Patton laughed. “That’s okay, as long as there isn’t any slime around.” He joked. Logan merely hummed at the statement, knowing that Thomas would understand the joke better than he could. 

 

“Here we go.” Logan said, opening the door to the office and letting Patton walk in first. 

 

The office wasn’t as cluttered as Logan had described. There was a desk towards the back of the room, and a slightly worn couch pushed against one of the walls. The walls were plain, unpainted, and the only window seemed to be covered with the blinds. The chairs in front of the desk were fold out ones, but that was understandable; after all, the arcade had only opened less than a month ago. 

 

Thomas sat in one of the fold out chairs while Logan moved to take his place behind his desk. The office was mainly Logan’s territory, while Thomas preferred to use it as a break room. As they entered, Logan made a mental note to get better furniture for the office and figure out another place where Thomas could have his break room. The coffee machine sitting on the floor didn’t exactly scream “ _we’re professional!_ ” 

 

“You must be Patton.” Thomas said, standing up to shake Patton’s hand. The latter nodded, unable to speak due to nerves. 

 

“Shall we?” Logan asked. 

 

The interview went smoothly, and by the end, Patton and Thomas were engaged in what seemed to be a pun competition while Logan finished up scribbling his notes. When Patton left, Logan looked at his co-manager. 

 

“What do you think?” 

 

“He’s perfect! I mean, he fits so well and I think he’ll be okay with the kids.” Thomas grinned. “When you first suggested more people on the team, I thought you were out of your mind, but he passed the interview with flying colors! What do you think?” 

 

“He still needs to pass the background check.” Logan reminded him, smiling as Thomas’s shoulders sank the way they did when Logan pulled his head out of the clouds. “And we still need to figure out his salary.”

 

“You’re not saying no.” 

 

“I’m not saying a definite yes, Thomas. We still have to do those things before he can join.” Logan said, glancing back down at his notes. “However, if and when everything is in order, we can approve him to be on the team.” 

 

“Yes!” Thomas cheered, knowing that Logan’s answer was at least leaning towards approval. “I’ll do the background checks!” He raced out of the room, determined to add Patton. 

 

The next week, Patton was hired, and Thomas started the training process while Logan managed the accounts for the month. They had enough to pay Patton, at least for the next couple of weeks, although it seemed as if the new employee would stay even if they were unable to pay him properly. Within hours of his first day, he knew how to manage the counter and keep track of the stock they had there perfectly. Patton worked as if he’d been running the counter for years, taking his time with the kids and never losing patience when they were indecisive. Logan often caught himself smiling over at the prize counter during the work day, and, to his surprise, Patton always returned the smile. To Logan, the man was a literal ball of sunshine. 

 

He fit in, just as Thomas had promised Logan during the interview. They had found their first missing piece. 


	3. 1.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing our favorite prince!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Clam has been restraining me again because I wanted this updated SO badly. All of your comments have been so sweet and I want to give you more stuff faster, but I can't start speeding updates up until we have everything finished.
> 
> We're also talking about making a discord server for this fanfic, and if you want that to be real then tell us in the comments! 
> 
> Once again thank you to my amazing beta reader and co-writer Clam for helping with this chapter, it's insanely chaotic but I hope you all enjoy. As soon as we hit 7 comments on this chapter we'll update again! 
> 
> If you have any questions/asks about this then you can ask those on my tumblr @tooattachedtofiction!
> 
> Nox

With Patton working the prize counter, the days seemed to be easier. Logan still preferred to stay in the back office, but he’d occasionally have the time to wander around to make sure things were working well. 

  
The arcade had invested in an alarm system, but that was only useful for when there weren’t any kids in the arcade. Logan had tried to push for cameras, but deflated once he realized that they needed more revenue for the purchase, in addition to paying back the bank. Besides, Patton was practically working at minimum wage. While the cameras would help in the long run, they wouldn’t help their finances at the moment. 

 

The arcade had been open for a month and a half, and they were still only running on three staff members. Days got busier and busier, and the laser tag room remained closed off. At the moment, Thomas was working the coin counter, exchanging money for game tokens.

 

Roman Samson was a fairly new customer, but recognized all of the staff. They all seemed to be around his age, and he often spent his time after auditions at the arcade to cheer up. Every time he came in, he seemed to be wearing a different costume, which seemed to amuse the other customers. 

 

He just happened to be in a prince costume that day. A white uniform with a bright red sash and gold trim that made him look like the next Disney prince. 

 

Logan was at the coin counter with Thomas today, and they were arguing again about security. As usual, the argument ultimately came down to money. 

 

“Just a part time security guard, then. The more patrons, the more trouble will come along! Please, Thomas.” He argued quietly.

 

“You know what our finances are, Logan, we can’t risk it. What if we just end up wasting money on a security guard who does nothing?” 

 

“Then cameras, or… or  _ something! _ They can sit in the spare room and watch the cameras.” Logan compromised. “Please, Thomas, we can’t risk robberies. We don’t even have  _ insurance _ for this place yet.” 

 

Meanwhile, two boys were attempting to steal a stuffed animal hanging from one of the eves of the prize counter. Patton had his back turned, humming quietly as he restocked the toys on the back wall. 

 

Roman spotted the two kids, and quietly approached. 

 

“That’s not a good idea. Don’t steal it!” Roman hissed, getting closer. The kid on top of the other’s shoulders grabbed the toy, and Roman grasped it just as they were pulling away. Somehow, this ended up in him knocking over the kids, who had been sitting on the other’s shoulders in order to reach the stuffed animal. All three of them landed on the carpet with a heavy  _ thud _ within a minute of Roman seeing them.

 

Logan and Thomas heard this all and raced over to the prize counter to find Patton with his mouth open, staring down at three customers who were sprawled out on the ground. 

 

“What on earth is going on here?” Thomas demanded, his voice squeaking a little. “Patton, what happened?” 

 

“I was humming and I heard arguing behind me but I just assumed it was the two kiddos figuring out what to get! And then I heard a loud sound and a bunch of groaning and I turned to investigate and found this.” Patton explained, his face pale and gesturing wildly at the three on the ground. Was he going to get fired? He couldn’t get fired, he was only here for a week! He had put a sign up on the counter that said  **_Closed for 5 Minutes_ ** , but that was to make sure things weren’t interrupted while he was doing stock.

 

“This is  _ exactly _ why we need security cameras.” Logan muttered to Thomas under his breath. Thomas held up a hand, signaling that they’d discuss the matter later. 

 

“Sir, what happened?” Logan asked Roman, who was on the receiving end of glares from the kids. 

 

“They were trying to steal a toy while the employee had his back turned, and I stopped them.” Roman said, but then, looked at the kids. “Are you okay?” 

 

“I’ll deal with the kiddos.” Patton said, waving the others off. Thomas sighed and nodded to Logan, mouthing the words, “ _ get him an application _ ”. 

 

“Please come with me.” Logan took Roman to the office, and Thomas went back to the coin counter, wondering if saying yes to Logan was a good idea. 

 

Patton turned to the kids, who were avoiding eye contact. “Now, kiddos, I know it’s easier to steal the prize than to work for it. But the more you work for something, the better the feelin’ is once you get it! Now, why did you want to steal it?” He waited patiently for an answer, crossing his arms. 

 

“Our best friend is really sick right now and we wanted to cheer her up.” One of the boys said quietly. “I know it was wrong, Mister, but we just didn’t want to take too long. We’re scared we don’t have a lot of time.”

 

Patton could feel his heart melting, but he knew he had to keep up a strong exterior. He couldn’t do that every time, the kids would figure out and expose his weakness soon enough.

 

“Well, you know the guy in the front? Thomas? He’s really good at those claw games, maybe he could help you out.” Patton suggested. “But you two need to understand that we can’t tolerate this behavior. If you try it again, there will be consequences.” He looked at them square in the eye. The two boys nodded, racing off to find Thomas.

 

When Patton was finished doing stock, he looked at the entrance to see the two boys waving goodbye to Thomas, a plush in each hand for their friend. 

 

In the office, Logan settled himself behind the desk and handed Roman an application. The application had been modified to fit for a security guard. The former had made the application as soon as he realized that they needed more staff with specific skill sets (this, of course, had been done with Thomas’s permission, though not until after its conception). 

 

“If you are in need of a job, we have the capacity to hire you.” Logan said slowly. “Our number is at the top of the page, and we can schedule an interview for next Tuesday. I hope to see you then.” Roman nodded, taking the application and leaving the room. 

 

He’d auditioned without even knowing it. 

 

~~~

 

The next Tuesday was taken up by interviewing and training Roman, though Thomas and Logan didn’t have much knowledge in terms of security. Roman wasn’t to carry any weapons on him, even if they were toys, and he had to do his best to de-escalate situations with the kids. They ran through security protocols until Logan felt comfortable with Roman in charge, and by the time the four employees headed out, it was dark. 

 

The kids seemed to like Roman as a security guard. He walked around in his prince costume (Thomas was insistent on the uniform) and often conversed with the kids. For Roman, the job wasn’t as a security guard; it was now his duty as a prince to protect the palace and the people inside. 

 

Logan made sure to keep a close eye on the new employee for the first week, but after the kids and parents understood that he was an authority figure, Logan returned to the office. He still wandered through the arcade when he could but tried not to hover too much.

 

Thomas seemed to approve of Roman, although he definitely made sure that Patton’s no cursing policy was enforced via the prince of the arcade. Roman tried to avoid giving the kids nicknames, and yet still referred to all patrons as royalty. He got a few smiles out of that. 

 

“Prince Roman, someone’s climbing the pac man machine!” A kid called out, and he rushed over. 

 

He’d defend, protect, and serve his kingdom. That was the job of a prince, after all. 


	4. 1.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Spooky music plays*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! We didn't get 7 comments on the last chapter but I got too impatient so here it is! I personally love this chapter, and I hope you do too! This chapter's comment goal is 5 comments.. Think you guys can manage that? I believe in you!
> 
> \- Nox

“Mr. Logan, one of the skee ball machines is broken. The ticket thing won’t work.” A little girl tugged on Logan’s shirt gently, grabbing his attention. 

 

Logan crouched down so that he was at eye level with the girl. “Can you show me which one?” He smiled when the girl nodded, wrapping her hand around his wrist and guiding him to the skeeball alley. 

 

She pointed to the broken one, then peered up at him. “Can you fix it?” 

 

“Yes, but it’ll take a while. Thank you for telling me.” Logan smiled, pulling out a token from his pocket. “We’ll get it up and running as soon as we can.” He promised, and watched the little girl run off. 

 

He sighed and taped the “Broken” sign on the machine. It was time to pull out the tool kit. 

 

~~~

 

Virgil Sodden was back in the arcade. 

 

Ever since its opening, the Mind Palace was Virgil’s safe place. Video games were his comfort, and here he could hide in the dark, in the air conditioning, in his second home. He knew video games. He knew the algorithms, how to beat them. Here, he knew how to win. 

 

Pac-Man, Galaga, the Legend of Zelda. He understood those games more than he could ever understand what the hell he was doing with his life. Machines, codes, and wiring made sense to him. But when it came to talking and his future? 

 

That was an extra-difficult bonus level. 

 

So when he overheard the skeeball machine was broken, he made his way over. The arcade layout was ingrained in his mind, and within seconds, he found himself in the “sports alley”. He found Logan sitting in front of one of them, a toolbox open next to the manager’s seated position. 

 

The manager seemed to be struggling. While Virgil was a regular, he made it a point to avoid any and all contact with the employees, especially Roman. He was sure Logan would recognize him if he walked up.

 

_ This is stupid, why am I here? _ He thought to himself. _ It’s  _ their _ problem, just go back to setting high scores on the racing games _ . Instead of doing what his mind was telling him, Virgil stepped forward. 

 

“Do you need help?” He asked, his voice quiet amongst the music of the surrounding games. 

 

“I’m alright, sir, just.. Trying… to fix… this.” Logan spoke through gritted teeth. Virgil watched as Logan struggled with the screwdriver. 

 

“It’s righty-tighty, lefty-loosey.” Virgil said, reciting the way he had memorized it. “If I may.” He stepped even closer, gently taking the screwdriver from Logan. Once the control panel was open, Virgil peered into the machinery. 

 

“Okay, so we put this here, and then that goes there..” Virgil mumbled to himself, his fingers nimbly moved around the inside of the machine. Logan would like to say that he understood the techno-babble the young man was mumbling, but he was lost.

 

“Do me a favor and plug the machine back in.” Logan nearly startled at Virgil’s words but followed orders anyways. As Virgil replaced the door for the control panel, the machine lit up, and he grabbed one of his tokens to test it. 

 

The balls rolled down the slot, and Logan’s mouth dropped open as Virgil picked up a ball and made it into one of the goals. 

 

“Funny thing with engineers, we always need to do stuff with our hands.” He said nonchalantly, making another ball into the same goal. 

 

Logan waited until Virgil’s game was finished. “Would you mind taking a look at our ticket counting machine? We’ve been struggling with that for a while.” 

 

Virgil glanced over, trying to stay cool, even though his heart was pounding. “Sure.” He agreed, following Logan to the prize counter with the tool box in his hand. 

 

He worked just as quickly with the ticket counting machine - all it needed was a rearrangement of wires - and when he was finished, he looked up to find Patton and Logan watching him with curiosity. 

 

“Hiya! I’m Patton, I work here too. That was really cool, what you did with the machines! You want to work here?” Patton said, practically fawning over Virgil. 

 

Logan sighed. “Patton, you don’t have the authority to do that.” He told, and Virgil smirked at what looked like a practiced “lovers quarrel”. 

 

“What’s going on here?” Roman asked, walking up with Thomas. 

 

“What are you all doing- Go back to your places.” Logan ordered. “Including you, Patton.” 

 

No one moved, with Patton sporting a pout and puppy eyes. “We need to hire him! He’s good!” He said, and Virgil felt himself try to shrink. He wasn’t used to compliments, especially from his peers. 

 

“Patton, I  _ know _ you like him but we’re not even sure if he has the qualifications or the availability or if he wants to work here in the first place.” Logan tried, but Patton was persistent. 

 

“We need a technician! Things are breaking more than usual-” 

 

“I’m aware of that, but he’s only a customer and only here because of the games, I’m sure he’s already employed-” 

 

“I’m not, actually.” Virgil interjected. 

 

“You’re not?” Logan blinked at him in surprise before returning his attention back to Patton. “That doesn’t matter, we need a meeting before any decision is final.” 

 

“We’re having a meeting right now!” Roman pointed out, and Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. 

 

“Crowding around the prize counter does  _ not _ count as a staff meeting.” Logan objected. “And after that we’ll need to do the whole application process, I can’t just waive all of that because he appears to be fit for the job-”

 

“But he  _ is _ good for the job.” Thomas pointed out. “I mean, he fixed two machines within like, ten minutes. Plus, he comes here enough to the point where he knows the arcade inside and out.” 

 

Logan glared at his co-manager. “Thomas, we can’t keep  _ offering _ jobs to people, we don’t have much money to begin with, and I understand the tables have turned but we can’t keep making these impulse decisions-” 

 

“I’ll work here for free.” Virgil said, and the others grinned at Logan, waiting for his response. Patton looked at Logan with another set of puppy eyes, wiggling his clasped hands towards his manager.

 

Logan, recognizing that he was fighting a losing battle, sighed, rubbed his eyes and glared at his coworkers surrounding him. “Virgil, if you would please join me in the office, we can discuss this  _ without _ the interjections.” 

 

The others cheered and Logan shot Thomas a pointed glare. They’d discuss this later, surely. 

 

“Everyone, back to your stations.” Logan groaned, and the others did so happily, knowing that their coworker was giving in. 

 

Three hours later, Logan and Virgil reappeared after closing. The other three stood outside of the office, waiting for the final verdict. When Logan opened the door, the three of them fell onto the ground, looking up to meet Logan’s disapproving face. 

 

“Honestly, the three of you are ridiculous.” Logan chided as Virgil tried not to laugh. Patton was the first to pop up from his sprawled out position on the ground. 

 

“So, is he hired?” Patton asked, grinning. Thomas and Roman popped up behind him seconds later, curious expressions on their faces.

 

“Virgil will be joining us as a technician and will be helping us run the laser tag games.” Logan announced, and the others cheered. 

 

“Welcome to the team, kiddo!” Within seconds, the others surrounded him in a group hug. Normally, Virgil wasn’t the type for physical contact, but this felt different. 

  
This felt, well,  _ safe. _


	5. 2.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright *cocks imaginary weapon* ITS LASER TIME.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to update this yesterday after we reached 7 comments, but Clam wouldn't let me! Regardless, it's here. There's still talk of us doing a discord server, so if you want that please comment below! If you have any questions about this fic/any suggestions, you can submit them to us @tooattachedtofiction on tumblr! Any fan art as well you can send to us at artemis9206@gmail.com!
> 
> This chapter's comment goal is 8, considering you all surpassed 5 quite quickly. This chapter was definitely a blast to write, and thank you to Clam for being my beta reader/sense of impulse control. Happy reading!
> 
> \- Nox

“Alright, here’s the deal.” Virgil announced, standing in front of the laser tag entrance. The others were equipping their vests and the laser guns, typing in their nicknames into the screens that lined the dark room; surprisingly, it was just their names. “You need three shots to ‘kill’. Ya get hit, ya need half a minute to revive before starting again. If you get killed, you get yourselves out of the paths of the others, and wait the two minutes it takes to be charged. The game ends when there’s only one survivor.” He instructed. “After you walk in, you have ten seconds to run and hide. After that, you’re on your own.” 

 

“Is it just me or is Virgil trying to be _tough?_ ” Roman stage-whispered to Thomas, who shrugged. The man in question swung open the door and his coworkers filed in. 

 

“Good luck.” Virgil grunted before closing the door and heading to the control panel room, located up a flight of stairs. 

 

The control panel was located above the maze that was the laser tag arena. Here, Virgil could see everything going on. 

 

How did he get in this position?

 

It had started when Patton suggested a team-building day, and Thomas had suggested laser tag. After all, Virgil was there now to run it, and besides, he was adamant about not participating (yet, the others would eventually insist). 

 

Virgil tapped on the intercom, turning on the mic. “ _Ten, nine, eight.._ ” He said, his voice echoing in the room below. 

 

Logan glanced down at the toy weapon in his hands. Precision and stealth were key in this game. He could do that. 

 

“ _Six.._ ” 

 

Thomas peered down below from the second floor, trying to spot one of the others. He would have never seen this as something that would be team building, at least, not until he started running the arcade. But they all needed this day to run around and be kids. Tomorrow they’d be adults. 

 

Not today. 

 

_“Four…”_

 

Laser tag was definitely not what Patton had had in mind when he suggested a team day. He expected air hockey tournaments, maybe a competition to see who could get the most tickets within an hour. But purposefully trying to get each other? It seemed borderline _violent_.

 

_“Three, two..”_

 

 _I got this_ . Roman thought to himself. _Protection and stealth is my job._  

 

 _“One.”_ Virgil announced. _“Systems are a go. Good luck, players.”_ Dubstep music filled the speakers as the intercom clicked off. 

 

Roman and Logan were the first to race out, switching locations every few seconds. Virgil smirked as he spotted Patton, who had made it a point to hide in the darkest corner of the room. Funnily enough, Thomas stayed on the second floor balcony, waiting for the others to come into view. 

 

Thomas aimed and got Logan first, running away quickly as his co-manager looked in his direction. Logan groaned, looking for a hiding place to revive. 

 

Aside from the glowing lights that lined some of the walls, the vests had lights that showed the amount of lives the player had. At the moment, Logan’s vest light was momentarily off for the thirty second revival. 

 

Patton noticed Roman slowly approaching. He tried hiding, but when he saw Roman’s grin he knew it might be a lost cause. 

 

“I-I DON’T CONDONE VIOLENCE!” Patton yelled, aimlessly firing at Roman. To Virgil’s surprise, Patton managed to hit the self proclaimed “prince” with one of the shots, and Roman stared at his coworker in shock. 

 

Virgil raised an eyebrow as Roman slowly looked down at his chest and then back up at Patton. Dramatically, Roman cried out, “ _I’ve been shot!_ ” 

 

Virgil laughed and rolled his eyes at Roman’s dramatics. The man collapsed onto the floor and stayed there as Patton looked down at him with a frown. 

 

“I’m sorry, Roman!” Patton whispered before running off, and Virgil cracked up again. 

 

Even when Roman was revived, he remained on the floor in the same position, still playing dead. Virgil smiled before turning on the intercom again. _“Princey, your light is back on, and if you don’t move within the next 30 seconds, I think one of the bosses will get you.”_ He warned, smirking as Roman scrambled to his feet and ran to hide. 

 

Virgil focused his attention back on Logan, who was sneaking up on Patton. The latter seemed to realize he was in trouble, and darted away. Patton’s shrieks slowly turned into excited squeals as Logan pursued him. “N-no! You can’t catch me!” 

 

When Patton was cornered by Logan, he just kept backing up into the wall as Logan got closer. “Now, think about this, Logan. Two guys, very close, you know what we could do instead of trying to kill each other in laser tag? It starts with a K and ends with an S!” Patton rambled, momentarily getting Logan to blush. Seconds later, Patton’s vest sounded, signaling he was dead in-game. 

 

Thomas focused on Roman for the rest of the game, laughing at his dramatics at being shot. This ended up killing both of them, as Logan found them due to Thomas’s booming laughter. 

 

Somehow, Logan managed to get all of them, shooting from the balcony the way that Thomas had in the beginning. 

 

“ _Game over. Your stats will be outside_.” Virgil instructed before leaving the control panel, running to meet the others downstairs. 

 

“I think we’ve broken in the laser tag room.” Thomas laughed when everyone had their vests off. “Virgil, you should join us next time.” 

 

“Maybe.” Virgil shrugged.

 

“T-That was fun.” Patton breathed out, and Virgil smiled, patting his shoulder. He hadn’t expected Patton to like it, but he was proud that Patton had the guts to at least try it. “Do we need to be so violent?” 

 

“It’s laser tag.” Logan deadpanned. “Although I do apologize if I scared you. I forget that I can be quite... _competitive_.” 

 

“I think that’s enough laser tag for today.” Thomas said with a little chuckle. “We can spend the rest of the day play testing the games. Is that good with everyone?” 

 

“Yep!” Patton cheered, grabbing Virgil’s wrist and pulling him over to the racing games.

 

Logan looked over at Roman and Thomas. “Skee ball?” 

 

Five minutes later, Logan smiled as Roman and Thomas glared at him. Somehow, Logan had reached the highest score possible.  

 

“Never again.” Thomas swore. “Ever.” 

 


	6. 3.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> enter the angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody! I was so excited that we got to our 8 comment goal yesterday, and I’m so excited to be bringing this chapter out to you. Some quick notes:   
> 1\. We see all of your comments and they mean the world to us. If we could respond to every single one of them, we most definitely would.   
> 2\. If you are looking for a response to your comment, send in an ask on my tumblr @tooattachedtofiction! You’re also free to make any fan art of this and send it in to my email (artemis9206@gmail.com) if you feel so inclined to!  
> 3\. this chapter would not have been made possible without Clam, they practically wrote half of the chapter with me! They also beta’d and made sure everything was all good, and I’m really grateful
> 
> Fun fact of the chapter (I’m doing this now and you can’t stop me!): our ideas document is written in comic sans. everything. even the serious stuff. 
> 
> Our comment goal is 11 this time around, just to make sure we’re not updating every day! But we are excited to start bringing in these chapters and I hope you’ll join us along the way. 
> 
> Nox

7 AM wasn’t  _ too _ early for arcade set up. 

 

But 7 AM before coffee was too early for Virgil; especially when he was with Roman. It wasn’t that Roman was a terrible person, Roman was just the kind of person someone like Virgil would never get along with.

 

Virgil was never the type to like those people; people who craved attention and did what they had to do to get it. 

 

Including picking on him. 

 

Sometimes he wondered why  _ him _ . Maybe because he didn’t talk to anyone. He didn’t talk, period. Not talking meant not fighting back. That made him an easy victim to begin with. His height didn’t exactly help either. 

 

The nicknames varied, but they always surrounded the idea of Virgil being moody, upset. 

 

He wasn’t upset  _ all _ the time. 

 

Lonely was a better word. 

 

Roman brought those sad feelings back with every stupid smirk. 

 

Logan and Patton were in the back, unloading all of the new toys for the prize wall. Thomas had gone on a coffee run, and Virgil was making sure everything was set up for the day’s laser tag. To Virgil’s annoyance, Roman had tagged along, fingers tapping away on his phone. Who was he texting this early in the morning, anyways? He was here to set up the arcade, but that was to be expected; In Virgil’s mind, Roman spent more time causing minor damages than doing his actual job.

 

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Virgil asked, trying not to seem rude (he was trying the way he thought trying to be nice meant). There was just something about Roman that made Virgil want to crush Roman’s dreams. 

 

“No.” Roman quipped, and Virgil rolled his eyes.

 

“Get out.” 

 

“Someone’s a Negative Nancy today.” Roman remarked under his breath, unaware of Virgil flinching at the name as he jumped off the filing cabinet he had been sitting on. Roman had meant this as a joke, but Virgil thought otherwise.

 

“Someone’s being a real pain.” Virgil shot back, missing the small frown that appeared on Roman’s face as he walked out. 

 

_ You want to be mean? _ Roman thought to himself.  _ Fine. Two can play at that game. _

 

The bantering continued on that week, the insults getting worse and worse. Neither of them seemed to catch the small grimaces the other made at the insults. Generally, Virgil tried to make it a habit to avoid Roman as much as possible, but the two couldn’t help but fire insults at each other.

 

~~~

 

“Pals of mine, I don’t think Virgil is fond of my glorious company.” Roman was, again, sitting on a filing cabinet. This time, he was lounging in the half-finished breakroom. Only a mini fridge sat in the corner next to a fold out table and chairs set, and a few filing cabinets sat in the other corner as pseudo storage.

 

Patton, sitting cross-legged on the ground, scoffed in his special way that didn’t feel mocking or derogatory. “Roman! Kiddo! I’m  _ sure _ our newest recruit likes you!”

 

“No, Patton, Roman might have a point. Virgil does not seem to much like any of us, and avoids us when he can.” Logan said, recalling the observations he’d been making. 

 

Virgil generally stayed in the control room of the laser tag center, often in the dark. He only came out to bring in new groups during his shift. He was the first to arrive, retreating into his cave, and the first to dart out and leave. Even though he was an employee, he had a tendency to avoid the others - not out of irritation or negative feelings, but rather panicked thoughts. The only one he could stand for more than five minutes was Patton, and he was still skittish even then. 

 

“He likes us, he’s just nervous!” Patton insisted. 

 

“At least with you guys, he  _ smiles _ . With me, he just looks away.” Roman sighed. “Whenever I walk into a room, he darts away or he says something mean.” 

 

“Try to talk to him. Without…” Patton started, but was cut off by a glare from Logan. The two shared a silent argument, their eyes expressing the words they couldn’t say out loud. 

 

“Without what?” Roman asked, glancing back and forth between the two of them. 

 

“ _ Nothing! _ ” Patton yelped. “Oh, look at the time! I gotta… go do that… that thing! Yes, that thing!” He raced off, and Logan quirked an eyebrow. 

 

“You know, it isn’t necessary to be friends with  _ every _ coworker you have. The two of you just need to make sure it doesn’t affect your work performance. I’m saying this as your manager.” His boss said, looking down at his desk. Logan returned his gaze to Roman a moment later when he stayed silent. “As your friend, I’m not taking a side or saying a word. Now, I believe you have a palace to protect.” 

 

Roman walked out, his head hung low. 

 

If anything, that was only a waste of his break.

 

~~~

 

If 7 AM setup with Roman seemed bad, opening was worse. 

 

Virgil had been volunteering to open up, and Roman had offered the day before to come in early for the technician’s protection. Apparently Virgil’s obviously fake “sure” hadn’t gotten through Roman’s thick head. 

 

It was fine, in the beginning. Thomas, Patton and Logan were in the back, sorting out ticket prices. Roman wandered around while Virgil made sure everything was good to go for the day. 

 

When they opened the doors, it wasn’t too bad. 

 

Until Roman spotted Virgil, picking up dropped tokens and hiding them in places around the arcade. 

 

“Virgil, I’d like to talk to you about the increase in missing tokens. At least five kids have approached me today saying that they must have dropped them. Would you know anything about that?” Roman said, leaning close. 

 

Virgil looked him dead in the eye, trying not to shake under Roman’s gaze. “No, I wouldn’t.” 

 

“Really, because I believe you were just picking up the dropped tokens and hiding them instead of returning them to the coin counter.” Roman accused, and Virgil’s fists balled tightly. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d call you a thief.” 

 

“You really think that lowly of me?” Virgil shot back. “You’d think a prince would be smarter.” He was shaking now, but to Roman it seemed as if Virgil was shaking with anger. “Watch the piles, see what happens when a kid finds them.”

 

“You’re stealing from the arcade!” 

 

“And you’re accusing with little evidence.” Virgil said coolly. “I’m sorry, Princey, I’ll get out of your kingdom at once.” He walked away, careful to not let the tears fall until he was in the safety of the control room. 

 

Logically, Virgil knew he had done nothing wrong. But the way Roman had said it, as if he was the bad guy… 

 

Virgil knew he was the outsider compared to the other employees. He knew he didn’t belong no matter what Patton tried to say. He knew the only reason they kept him was because they needed a technician. 

 

He knew he wasn’t wanted, especially not by Roman. If he were in his coworkers’ shoes, Virgil wasn’t even sure that he’d  _ want _ himself around. 

 

He could endure Roman’s behavior for a little longer. 

 

He’d take it until it broke him. 


	7. 3.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry for everything we've done to Virgil in this fic because this is the very tip of the ice berg

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all reached the comment goal very quickly! Fun fact about this chapter: I write Virgil based on my personal experiences with anxiety.  
> This chapter's comment goal is 14, and I have no doubt that you all will reach it soon. As always, if you want any replies you can comment about the chapter to me on my tumblr @tooattachedtofiction and if you make anything inspired by this fic, send it to us at artemis9206@gmail.com! As usual, thank you to Clam for beta reading this chapter!
> 
> Nox

The following week, things got worse. Somehow, word had gotten around that Virgil was a bad guy - so much so that the older kids taunted him any time he walked out of the control room, and that the little kids looked at him with scared eyes when he approached the ticket counter to talk to Patton. 

 

It was all Roman’s fault, and Virgil was getting fed up with it.  

 

“Princey!” Virgil seethed, storming over to the security guard. “Why the _hell_ are all of the kids calling me a villain?” 

 

“Isn’t that what you are, Surly Temple?” Roman said, looking at his nails. “Your personality leaves... _something,_ to be desired.” 

 

“The little kids won’t even _talk_ to me because they think that I’m going to be mean to them!” Virgil threw his hands up in the air. “Look, calling me names is one thing, but don’t bring in the customers into this.” He growled. “It’s really childish, using others as your messengers.” 

 

“Alright, Count Woe-lof.” Roman waved him off. 

 

He knew that this was petty, but Virgil had started it. If Virgil wanted to play dirty, then Roman would play it that way too. 

 

Meanwhile, Virgil looked for an empty supply closet to hide in. He couldn’t cry in the control room, there was too much stuff in there that couldn’t have water around. Eventually, he ducked into one, collapsing onto the door the minute it was securely shut and letting the tears fall. 

 

Normally, when Virgil cried, he was silent, just sitting as water streamed down his face. Today he was louder, sobs and hiccups shaking his body. 

 

How could he have been so stupid to think that this place was safe? That he actually _belonged_ here?

 

Roman had made it clear that Virgil couldn’t stay. Even though Virgil was angry, he didn’t want Roman to get in trouble for it.

 

It was his fault, in the same way everything he’d endured as a child was his fault. He deserved it all: the pain, the sadness, the tears. 

 

He’d hand in his two weeks first thing tomorrow, he decided. He could look somewhere else. 

 

Even if it meant never coming back.

 

~~~

 

“Mr. Patton, why is the laser tag closed?” A regular, a little kid called Joan, looked up at Patton with wide eyes. 

 

“It’s not closed. Maybe there’s a game in session.” Patton suggested, and Joan shook their head. “Can you show me?” 

 

Patton tried to ignore the feeling of dread settling into his stomach as they approached the arena entrance. The door was closed, which wasn’t unusual, but what was unusual was the sign taped on top of it. 

 

**_LASER TAG WILL RESUME TOMORROW AT 8 AM._ **

 

“I see.” Patton said. “I think Virgil’s doing repairs today. I’m sorry, Joan.” 

 

Another kid approached, a little girl with pigtails named Valerie. “I think I saw Mr. Virgil go in there.” She pointed to a door secluded from the main area, and Patton nodded. 

 

“Thank you both for telling me.” He said, handing them two coins each. “Run along, now.” The two ran off to another part of the arcade, and Patton watched as they disappeared into the crowd. Once he couldn’t see them anymore, a frown appeared on his face as he looked back at the door Valerie had pointed at. Why would Virgil be in a supply closet for the rest of the day? That didn’t make sense. 

 

“Virgil?” Patton called out gently, knocking on the closed door. “Are you in there?” 

 

Patton pressed his ear to the door, and when he focused hard enough, he could hear quiet, choked sobs coming from the other side. 

 

“Hey, buddy? Can you open the door for me?” 

 

From the other side, a small voice growled, “Leave me alone, Patton.” 

 

It was definitely Virgil. “Okay, well, I’m going to open the door now.” Patton said, twisting the doorknob and gently pushing his way inside the dark closet. His fingers clumsily searched for a light, clicking it on when he found the switch. 

 

The scene before him broke his heart. 

 

Virgil had tucked himself into one of the corners, hiding his face with his arms, his knees tucked against his chest. He sniffled as his glassy eyes met Patton’s concerned ones, and it took all his power to not burst into tears again. 

 

“What’s going on, buddy?” Patton asked, sitting on the dirty floor to reach Virgil’s eye level. “Does it have to do with Roman?” 

 

In between sobs, Virgil slowly told Patton everything that had been happening, and the older man nodded, listening the whole way through. 

 

“Well, we only have three more hours left here. Do you want to stay in the control room until then? I have to get back to the prize counter now.” Patton tried to keep a calm exterior after he noticed how much time had gone by. 

  
“Y-yeah. Okay.” 

 

Carefully, Patton snuck Virgil back to his little hideaway before returning to the prize counter. Oddly enough, Logan had been covering for him the entire time. Neither said a word to each other until the end of the day. 

 

“Logan? I think we have a problem.” 

 

~~~

 

Logan had known about the problem, but he had hoped that Virgil and Roman would figure things out on their own. He was still hoping when Virgil appeared in his office the next day, handed him a paper, and left. 

 

**TWO WEEKS NOTICE**

 

Thomas walked in to find Logan reading the letter with a frown on his face. Something had to be done about those two. 

 

“I can talk to Roman, but those two seem stubborn. They probably don’t want us to get too involved.” Thomas sighed after he read the letter from Virgil. “I made sure that the ‘no bullying’ point was evident in both of their training, but I guess the message didn’t go through.” 

 

“Well, we can’t let either of them go. We need them in order for this place to function. You know how hard it was to find them, and that was individually. It would take weeks to replace them, and that’s time we don’t have.” Logan said, running a hand through his hair. 

 

“Then what do we do? We can’t let this go on but we can’t intervene too much.” 

 

“Think about it, and we’ll reconvene after closing.” Logan suggested, and Thomas nodded, going back to the main area.

 

Their problem wasn’t solved until later, when Thomas reappeared in the office mid-afternoon, a grin on his face. 

  
“I think I have an idea.”


	8. 3.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have a problem? Laser tag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your comments - we didn't reach the goal but I got too impatient! This update’s fun fact is that we’ve had this chapter and arc planned for a while, although I can say I never expected Roman to end up so brutal. Again, I’d like to thank Clam for sticking with me during this arc because I struggled so much with writing it. 
> 
> In regards to those of you who are asking about how we produce these so quickly: We actually have quite a lot of chapters saved up, mainly because Clam restrained me from updating so much in the beginning. Every time I write a new chapter I always wonder what you all will think and then I realize it will take a couple of weeks until you all see it. This chapter’s goal is going to be 10, and I hope you all enjoy reading! 
> 
> Nox

“We’re closed for the day because of  _ this? _ ” Virgil scoffed as he stared at the laser tag vest in his hands. “Team building day was two weeks ago.” 

 

Logan hummed and sent a pointed look his way. “Just get inside and there will be directions from there.” He instructed, and Virgil quickly scrambled to put on his vest and grab the attached toy gun. The technician quickly disappeared into the laser tag arena, back in the dark again. 

 

Logan’s voice boomed over the speakers as he sat in the control panel. 

 

_ “Virgil, welcome to laser tag. Please make your way to the center of the arena. _ ” Virgil’s eyebrows furrowed as he processed Logan’s words.  _ What on earth was going on? _

 

Still, he followed the instructions to find Roman gathered there as well, looking just as confused as Virgil. 

 

“ _ It has come to my attention that you two have been struggling to cooperate. Hopefully, this will help. Now, Patton and Thomas are in here as well. This game of laser tag will be with teams. However, unlike traditional laser tag, you are not to leave your partner’s side under  _ any _ circumstance. The objective is to find all of the toys hidden around the arena. There are seven in total. Whoever has the most toys at the end wins. Virgil and Roman, you’re on the same team. Your safe zone is located on the east end of the arena. You have ten seconds to get to headquarters. Ten, nine, eight… _ ” 

 

Virgil exchanged a scowl with Roman before sprinting off to the designated safe-zone. They could win without having to apologize. Just as long as Roman didn’t try to take the lead. 

 

“Don’t fuck this up.” Virgil grumbled, fiddling with the laser gun. “As much as your dramatics amuse everyone, we don’t have time for that.” 

 

“They amuse you?” Roman asked in a somewhat hopeful tone, and for the second time that minute, Virgil flashed him another scowl. 

 

“I don’t  _ count _ as a part of everyone.” He snapped back, already starting to hide behind the plastic barriers. “Now hurry up.” 

 

Roman followed Virgil as they slowly made their way around the arena. “What do you mean you’re not part of everyone?” Roman whispered. As a response, Virgil flipped his middle finger up in what looked like a practiced manner, listening for any incoming footsteps. 

 

“Well if we’re going to be stuck here for a little bit, you might as well tell me.” The security guard huffed. For someone whose job involved running around all day, Roman didn’t have much endurance, especially with running. He crawled after Virgil to get behind another barrier. 

 

“You’re irritating, you know that? Could you not stick your nose in my business for  _ one _ second?” Virgil spotted a toy and ran for it, Roman swearing as he chased after the technician. 

 

The night before, Patton had been helping Logan set up the arena. He knew where every toy was placed; except for the fact that then, it had been lit up. Now, it was dark. 

 

“So, why use toys as the objective?” Patton had asked, setting out the toys for Logan to place later. 

 

“Well, for one thing, who doesn’t want to see grown men play laser tag while clutching plush toys in their arms?” Logan laughed. “And secondly, I figured coins would be much harder to spot in the dark.” 

 

It didn’t help that Patton’s vision was worse with the absence of light. 

 

“You think this’ll work?” Patton asked Thomas quietly, heart pumping quickly. “That they’ll make up?” 

 

“Worst case scenario, we lose Virgil. Best case scenario, they make up and work together after this.” Thomas replied with ease. “I’d say it’s currently at a 60% success rate. Logan did say that Virgil was adamant about not making up earlier, but Logan seems determined.” 

 

“That’s one toy down.” Virgil said as they ran back to the safe zone. “Five to go.” 

 

“Will you just tell me why you don’t count as everyone else?” Roman hissed as Virgil ran off again. 

 

“Look, all we need to do is win, and then I don’t need to speak to you until I leave.” Virgil shot back, spotting Patton and Thomas nearby. “Patton and Thomas, 2 o’clock.” 

 

Roman aimed and fired towards the two, causing Thomas to lose one of his lives. Virgil got Patton, so both of their opponents were rendered disabled for the next half minute. 

 

“ _ Gogogogogo _ .” Virgil ordered, scrambling to get the second toy. “This way.” 

 

“What did you mean by leave?” Roman asked, struggling to catch up with Virgil in running and his vague words. “Where are you going?” 

 

“In two weeks, I’m not going to be working here anymore. I turned in my notice yesterday. Happy?” Virgil glared at Roman through the dark after he placed down the toy next to the first. 

 

“What?  _ Why? _ ” Roman’s eyes widened, and guilt twisted in his stomach. Had he really been  _ that _ cruel?

 

“You’ve made it clear that I’m not a joy to be around. I’m just removing myself from the equation.” Virgil shrugged, almost as if this was common for him. “Let’s just finish this so I can go.” He started to head towards the middle, but Roman caught his wrist. 

 

“I am sorry, for all the things I said to you.” Roman said softly, and one of Virgil’s walls came crashing down. As soon as it did, however, a newer one was built, this one stronger. 

 

“Save it.” Virgil said. “Don’t apologize to make yourself feel better.” 

 

Roman’s eyes narrowed. “I’m trying to _ help! _ You’re the one that got us both into this mess!” 

 

“If I remember correctly, you were the one who started with the names. Have you ever thought that maybe, just  _ maybe _ , people don’t like being called negative things?” 

 

Roman visibly recoiled at this, enough for Virgil to break free from his grip. In the dark, Virgil frowned, clearly not intending to seem so harsh. He looked at the ground. 

 

“Look, for what it’s worth, I know I’m not a joy to work with. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not trying to be better.” He looked up at Roman, barely making out his face. “You just  _ push, _ Princey, and you didn’t seem to have any respect for any boundaries. I’m sorry for snapping and expecting you to just know better when I didn't make it clear from the start.”

 

“Oh.” Roman blinked in surprise. “I… I accept your apology. Thank you.” 

 

Roman would make sure to give Virgil the over-the-top apology he deserved later, but they didn’t have time right now.

 

The intercom turned on again, and the two of them looked up as Logan’s voice rang out. “5 minutes.” 

 

“I think I saw one on the second floor. Follow me.” Roman said, and that’s exactly what Virgil did. 

 

He followed. 

 

~~~

 

Virgil appeared in Logan’s office the next day, seemingly happier. “I’d like to take back my two weeks resignation notice.” 

 

“Anything that changed your mind?” Logan asked, handing him back the paper. 

 

“We’re good now.” Virgil shrugged. “That’s all there is to it.” 

 

Logan nodded, and Virgil disappeared back into the arcade. 

 

He later spotted Virgil and Roman in the arcade after hours. Both of them were on the racing games, yelling curses at each other. 

 

For the first time in a month, Virgil looked...  _ happy _ . 

 


	9. 4.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> there are few who deny, at what i do i am the best...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Generally between arcs we'll have a fluff chapter to give you all a break, so this chapter is supposed to take place during Halloween their time (although we'll do a proper Halloween chapter eventually, once everyone is around). This was, as always, beta'd by Clam!  
> IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:   
> Starting this week we'll be updating Monday and Thursdays. This way I actually have self control. HOWEVER, if the comments aren't at 10 for the last chapter then the update will be postponed (and you'll be updated if you turn on my tumblr notifs @tooattachedtofiction).  
> Fun fact of the chapter: this chapter honestly came out of nowhere. I don't even know how we got this in here, but it's here! Enjoy reading, and I'll see you this Thursday!
> 
> Nox

One Monday night, after closing, Patton bounced up to Thomas and Logan, Roman and Virgil slowly following behind him. Since their little spat, Virgil and Roman seemed to get along well, a bit rocky but mostly stable. While their interactions weren’t always voluntary for Virgil, the technician tried his best to be patient with Roman. 

 

Summer was almost over for most of the kids. August was the start of back to school sales and preparation, so the arcade was starting to become slower during the week. This caused Patton to have some restless energy, constantly wanting to hang out after work with his “work buddies”. 

 

“I have an idea!” Patton said, his backpack jumping up and down with the rest of his body. “We should have a movie night tonight!” Logan was hesitant but nodded to let him continue. “Roman offered his house, and Virgil suggested Nightmare Before Christmas, and we don’t have to be here until noon tomorrow. So what do you say, Logan? Thomas?” 

 

Logan shared a brief look with Thomas, who nodded slightly. Logan looked back at his energetic employee, who was impatiently waiting for his answer. 

 

“Sure.” Logan said, and Patton cheered. He couldn’t resist making Patton happy, even if he wasn’t one for social events. “Would you like Thomas and I to procure dinner for everybody?”

 

“Sounds ghoul!” Patton said cheerfully as Logan and Roman simultaneously groaned at the pun. Virgil, on the other hand, held back a laugh while Thomas high-fived Patton. 

 

Within a few minutes, they all climbed into their respective cars, Thomas in the passenger seat of Logan’s car. 

 

“So, why is Patton the only one you can’t say no to?” Thomas asked as Logan pulled out of the parking lot. “It seems like whenever he asks you something you always say yes.” 

 

“I don’t say yes to everything he asks me. You know I’m never changing the ticket prices.” Logan replied easily, driving down the street to the pizza place. “I’m not a pushover.” 

 

“But it looks like you have a soft spot for our ticket counter clerk. Would you agree with that?” 

 

“Thomas, are you attempting to interrogate me? One should never do so while the accused is driving.” Logan deflected, turning in order to park. “It catches the other off guard.” 

 

“I think you have feelings for Patton.” Thomas grinned. “You’re just too confident to admit that Patton Picani wormed his way through your little, stone cold heart.” Thomas cooed.

 

“Falsehood. Employee/manager relationships are incredibly unethical. Have we not discussed this?” Logan put the car in park before grabbing his wallet and getting out of the car. 

 

“Well, it is  _ our _ business. You could do whatever you want.” Thomas pointed out, following his best friend inside. 

 

“If I ever have feelings that strong, I’ll act on them. But for now, I’d rather not fantasize with you.” Logan said, shutting down the conversation. 

 

~~~

 

It didn’t take them long to reach Roman’s apartment, and with everything he did, the security guard opened the door with a flourish and a grin. 

 

“They’re here!” Roman called out to Virgil and Patton, who were hidden by the door. The two made their way inside, Logan struggling a little under the pizza boxes. They had ordered three, and unfortunately, physical fitness was one of the few categories Logan didn’t perform well in. 

 

“Oh, here.” Patton appeared, taking one of the boxes from the stack. Although the loss in weight of the boxes wasn’t much, Logan had a much easier time carrying them the rest of the way to the living room. “Do you want something to drink, Logan?” 

 

“Water would be preferable.” Logan said, and Patton left the room, leaving Logan to compose his thoughts. 

 

“Hey, L, do you ever eat or drink anything that, you know, isn’t healthy for you?” Virgil asked, smirking as Logan jumped at the sound of his voice. 

 

“Pizza.” Logan said, pointing to the boxes. 

 

“Beyond that. Burgers? Milkshakes? Soda?” 

 

“I’m not one for sweets.” Logan answered, taking a seat adjacent to the technician. “Why do you ask?”

 

“Do you ever let loose?” Virgil asked, pointedly ignoring Logan’s question. “Like, go out?” 

 

They were inching into dangerous territory now. “I don’t exactly see the point in going out and drinking. I’d rather read a book as a pastime.” Virgil studied him before sighing, taking a sip of his soda. 

 

Luckily, Thomas, Roman and Patton appeared to save Logan from Virgil’s questioning. They brought in paper plates and the rest of the drinks, and Roman started the movie. 

 

“Is this a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie?” Logan asked as the credits rolled. “I could never understand what it was.” 

 

“Both.” Thomas shrugged, shoving down a bite of pizza shortly after. 

 

As the opening notes for ‘This Is Halloween’ rang out, Roman and Thomas both stood up, ready to sing, causing Logan and Virgil to tug them back down to the couch. 

 

“We can appreciate a movie without trying to be in it.” Virgil grumbled, huffing as Roman crashed back onto the couch. 

 

Two hours later, Virgil found himself hesitantly wrapping an arm around Roman’s shoulders as the security guard snuggled closer. Patton cooed at them before taking a picture with his phone, their faces illuminated by the TV. 

 

After the movie ended, Logan was the first to stand up. “This was… enjoyable, but I’m afraid Thomas and I have to leave.”

 

“Alright, night!” The others said, and the two managers disappeared into the night. 

 

“I should go too.” Patton said, brushing his hands on his jeans. “Do you need me to clean up or anything?” 

 

“You’re fine.” Roman waved him off, and soon it was just him and Virgil.    
  


“Sorry, I cuddle when I’m tired.” Roman explained to Virgil, who only nodded. “I should have asked before I did it.” 

 

“That’s okay.” Virgil said, moving to get up. “Um, I’ll go now. Good-good night, Roman.” Virgil rushed out of the apartment without another word. 

 

No, he couldn’t be catching feelings for Princey. 

 

His anxiety was just messing with him. 

 

Part of him wanted to go back to the apartment, go back to their position throughout the movie, but he’d walked out. He couldn’t go back now. 

 

He settled for going home, hoping that he’d shake the feelings off by tomorrow. It had to be that simple, right?


	10. 5.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dECEIT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody! This update is a little late (we were supposed to do it yesterday and then I forgot). If you read the last note then, just as a reminder, we are updating Monday’s and Thursdays with a comment goal of 10 per chapter. MY COMMENTS DO NOT COUNT AS PART OF THE OTHERS. 
> 
> As usual this was beta read by Clam and the fun fact for this chapter is that I love writing cliffhangers whoops
> 
> Nox

Patton wandered the aisles of the grocery store, tossing the things on his list into his cart. A box of cereal, peanut butter, marshmallows, and a few other items that one may have questioned before he headed to the checkout lines. 

 

He watched as the conveyor belt moved slowly towards the main register, longing to hurry up and go home. “That’s 30 dollars and 69 cents, sir. Would you like a bag?” 

 

The man in front of Patton in line frowned. “I- I thought there were sales today. T-There were signs everywhere.” 

 

“With the sales it comes down to 30 dollars and 69 cents.” The cashier informed the man, who looked sadly down at the items that had gathered at the end of the conveyor belt. 

 

“I… Um, excuse me.” The man stepped to the side, looking through his wallet. “I’m sorry, I can’t afford that.” 

 

Patton frowned. The man seemed to be around his age, but so much more frail. His bright yellow coat seemed to hang over his shoulders as if he were a hanger, and there appeared to be bags under his eyes that almost rivaled Virgil’s. 

 

“I’ll pay. Add my things to the purchase, please.” Patton said, stepping up. “It’s okay.” 

 

An older man behind Patton in line snickered. “He could have the money and just spend it on drugs. Has it occurred to you that he might be lying?” Patton glanced back at the customer behind him, his lips forming a thin line. 

 

“He could be lying, sure. But if I can help it, I’d rather not stand here and watch a person suffer from our poor excuse of an economy.” Patton said, his voice calm but his words as sharp as a knife. “Now if you will let me make my own decisions, I’ll be out of your hair shortly.” 

 

The cashier cleared her throat. “Sir, your total is 58 dollars and 4 cents. Do you need a bag?” Patton shook his head, handing the cashier two reusable ones. 

 

“Just keep ours separate.” He looked at the other man’s groceries. They seemed to be things for simple meals; beans, boxes of mac and cheese, instant ramen. 

 

After Patton checked out, he handed one of the bags to the man waiting near the exit of the store. 

 

“Thank you.” He stammered out. “My name’s Dylan Shye. I- I just got laid off a few weeks ago. It’s been difficult… managing so I really appreciate you paying.” 

 

“Would you like a ride home, Dylan?” Patton asked the quivering man, who shook his head and mumbled something about a bus. He could take public transportation back to his apartment; he doubted someone like Patton would be safe driving in his neighborhood. 

 

Patton frowned at this, glancing out the store’s windows to see that rain was falling heavily over the parking lot. He could drive through the rain, but part of him really wanted to curl up inside the warmth of a cafe. 

 

“Well, are you free to talk over some coffee? My treat.” He offered, and shyly, the other man nodded. 

 

15 minutes later, the two sat down in the window of a nearby cafe. 

 

“Hey, Dylan... Have you ever heard of the Mind Palace Arcade?”

 

~~~

 

When Patton told Logan what had happened the day after, Logan sighed at his desk. “Patton, I thought we talked about offering people jobs-” 

 

“There’s a help wanted sign in the front. We need someone to set up and watch the security cameras. We’ve had them for a month and the box is still taped shut.” Patton said, pointing over to the unopened box. “It’s not like it requires any special abilities, he’s just watching the cameras all day.” 

 

“I get that you want to help him, but we can’t save everyone. You know that, Patton.” Logan said softly, and Patton frowned. 

 

“He’s a good person, I swear!” 

 

“You met him yesterday and spoke for only 5 minutes. How can you judge his character based on  _ five _ minutes?” 

 

“No, I took him to coffee afterwards.” Logan groaned as Patton beamed at him. Clearly, Patton’s “recruiting” had once again, gotten out of hand. Luckily, Patton generally had good instincts, despite the fact that Roman and Virgil saw the cheery man as naive. 

 

“Patton-” 

 

“Am I interrupting anything? The guy in the front said to come here.” Dylan appeared in the doorway of the office, making Logan freeze mid sentence.

 

“Dylan!” Patton cheered as Logan sighed again. “You’re fine, Logan and I were just chatting!” 

 

Dylan looked over at the other man, who seemed to be less than pleased with Patton. He tried to ignore the uneasy feeling Logan was giving him, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants.

 

Logan shot Patton a glare, mouthing ‘we’ll talk about this later’. “Patton, I  _ believe _ you have a prize counter to attend to.” He said in his most pleasant tone, trying not to grit his teeth. That man would be the death of him.

 

Patton, acting oblivious to Logan’s irritation, nodded and started to walk out. “Good luck, Dylan!” He waved and exited the office, leaving Dylan alone with Logan.

 

Dylan looked at Logan, trying not to shrink under the manager’s gaze. “So, is there a paper I need to fill out, or-” 

 

Logan handed him an application. “Once you submit it, my co-manager and I will review the application and see if you qualify for an interview. If you do, we’ll let you know soon.” He promised. 

 

“How soon?” Dylan’s eyes were wide, a bit of panic in them. 

 

Logan laughed, and for the first time in the conversation, he seemed to remember to relax and be genuine. “Depending on what we’re doing tonight, we could be contacting you within the next 24 hours.” 

 

“Great.” 

 

Dylan left the arcade with a smile on his face. Things would get better. If he got the job, he could figure out where he wanted to go next, no time limits involved. Patton seemed to be the type to put in a good word for him. 

 

The universe had given him one chance.

 

He  _ couldn’t  _ fuck this up.

 

No more lying; if this was truly the start of something, he was diving in headfirst.

 

~~~

 

The following Tuesday, Dylan walked into the arcade for training and staff development day. 

 

Dylan had seen a lot of things in his life come and go. 

 

But he had never expected to see his old college roommate, not the way things had ended. He remembered the way the door slammed, the difficulty of losing the one friend he had at the time.

 

So when the aforementioned roommate stood before him, mouth agape, he wasn’t sure what to do. 

 

“Virgil?” Dylan said, his voice barely above a whisper. 

 

“What,” Virgil growled, “the  _ fuck _ are you doing here?” 


	11. 5.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The introduction of the breakdown closet (or what happened between Virgil and Dylan all those years ago)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof hello everybody! Thank you to all of you who commented, y’all are the real mvps. Welcome to the Monday update where… it gets better? but also not? (Sidebar, I’m very lucky to have Clam because I would die if I didn’t talk to anyone about these updates, I need to scream about them immediately and they’re always there so thank you to them for beta reading and being my mental restraint)
> 
> Fun fact of the chapter: the roman arc actually foreshadowed this one with Virgil’s nicknames. 
> 
> As usual the comment goal is 10 but if you go beyond that Clam and I will probably scream with happiness. If you have anything to say beyond the comments you can show us by tagging #mindpalacearcadefic on tumblr! 
> 
> Nox

Dylan looked at Virgil, who was pacing up and down in their poor excuse for a living room. For a man who was often quiet, Virgil could be loud when aggravated. 

 

The two had been roommates since their freshman year of college. In the beginning, they seemed to have gotten along well, watching conspiracy theories late into the night and falling asleep on each other’s beds, giving each other friendly nicknames. 

 

They were close, almost as if they’d been friends their entire lives.

 

But now, it seemed that all they did was fight. The last few months, Dylan had avoided spending free time in the apartment, worried that every fight would be the last straw. This frustrated Virgil more than Dylan ever expected. 

 

“You haven’t even listened to me! All I asked was for you to pay your part of the rent, but I’ve been covering you for months! We’re both about to be kicked out if you don’t clean up your stupid little act and start acting like an adult.” Virgil stopped his pacing to look at Dylan, throwing his hands up in the air when he didn’t respond immediately.

 

Dylan shrunk. “Look, Count Woe-laf, I can explain-” 

 

“Explain what, exactly? Explain why you use this apartment as much, if not more than I do, and you still won’t pay rent? Explain why I’m the one that’s yelled at when the neighbors make noise complaints at two in the morning? Really, I’d like to see you try.” Virgil’s snarl was getting louder and faster.

 

As much as Dylan liked to believe the nicknames would de-escalate the situation, it only made Virgil more riled up.

 

“Okay, so I don’t have a good explanation-” 

 

“No. You don’t.” Virgil’s voice was sharp and cutting.

 

“The truth is, I don’t know how to be on my own.” Dylan said, but Virgil just blinked at him. As the words registered, Virgil scoffed. 

 

He’d made it sound so grand, as if he was helpless, and yet he was chalking all of his behavior from the past year to insecurity? To naïvity? No, he wasn’t getting away with it that easy. 

 

“That’s total _bullshit!_ You’re with me! We _live_ together! You could’ve asked me how to get a job and I would have _helped_ you! You’re not. On. Your. Own.” Virgil said. “I can’t… _God,_ I can’t deal with this. Not with _you._ ” 

 

“Virgil-”

 

“Don’t want to hear it, don’t even _try._ ” Virgil grumbled, disappearing into his room and slamming the door.

 

A week later, Dylan walked in to the apartment to see all of Virgil’s things packed in boxes. He didn’t realize how much stuff around the apartment belonged to Virgil until he saw that the cupboards, which once held all of their cutlery and plates, were practically empty. 

 

“What’s going on?” Dylan asked as Virgil walked by, carrying a box. 

 

“I’m leaving.” Virgil said plainly, his voice even, face blank. “No more second chances, no more ‘I’ll do better’. I’ll be out by tomorrow. Find a roommate who can put up with your shit.” 

 

“What am I going to do? Surly Temple, you can’t leave, you’re my only friend.” Dylan begged, running in front of the other man. He hadn’t noticed Virgil stiffen at the nickname.

 

“Really, because if I was your only friend, you wouldn’t be out every night and coming back with whoever you picked up on your way home.” Virgil’s stare was cold and hard. “Don’t lie to me.” 

 

“Virgil-” 

 

“I’m going, Dee. Don’t try to stop me.” 

 

~~~

 

Dylan never expected to be standing in front of an angry Virgil again, not four years later. He was seething, fists balled the same way they had back then.

 

“L-Logan hired me.” Dylan stumbled over his words. “I-I met Patton a-at the store, and he told me to apply h-here and I did.” 

 

Virgil whirled around to Logan, who met his glare with a blank expression. 

 

“Virgil, you won’t even see Dylan except for staff development days. Must this be so,” Logan waved his hand around as he thought of the word, “er, dramatic?”

 

“I can’t do this. Not again, not with _him._ ” Virgil stormed off into the control room. 

 

Roman stepped close to Patton, who looked like he was debating on whether or not to run after the technician.

 

“Is it just me or does Virgil really not like anyone who walks in here?” He whispered, and before Patton could protest, chased after Virgil. 

 

~~~

 

“Virgil? Hey, open up.” Roman said, pounding on the door. “You okay?”

 

“Go away, Roman, I want Patton.” Roman’s chest stung as he listened to Virgil’s cracking voice. 

 

“Well, you get me. Patton’s restocking with Logan.” 

 

“Patton.” Virgil insisted. “I’m not crying in front of _you._ ” 

 

“Virgil, Patton actually was the one to tell me to talk to you.” 

 

“I want Patton.” 

 

10 minutes later, Patton stood in front of the door of the control room. “Hey, bud? You wanna let me in?” 

 

The door opened slightly, and Patton pushed his way in, kneeling in front of Virgil. Virgil was sniffling, curled up exactly like last time. 

 

“Did something happen between you and Dylan… before the arcade?” 

 

“We used to be best friends, roommates. A-and then I got tired, you know? I got tired of being the adult. He… He lied to me all the time. And I walked out, but if I hadn’t… if I had just been more patient, it wouldn’t be this way.” Patton tried to resist, but ultimately ended up sitting on the floor, rubbing Virgil’s back as sobs racked through the technician’s body. He noticed Virgil could never stay angry for long, and that his breaking point was lower than he made it out to be. 

 

“My fault. It’s my fault… and this is stupid karma coming back to bite me in the ass.” Virgil tried and failed to stifle another sob. 

 

“I don’t think it’s your fault. If he didn’t listen to me, I’d be angry as well.” Patton said. “I didn’t know him back then, but I think… I think he’s changed. It seems like he’s trying to be better. And it’s always going to be a learning process. The best thing you could do now is talk to him so that the both of you can understand the other side of things.” 

 

“No. He.. he hates me.” From Patton’s understanding, one of Virgil’s main fears was of being hated, but Dylan didn’t seem like the type of person to actively hate someone.

 

“It didn’t seem like he hated you when you saw each other earlier.” 

 

“Well, he does. I know it.” 

 

“I don’t know how anyone can hate you.” Patton said. “You’re awesome!”

 

“I can see how people could hate me.” 

 

“You keep talking bad about yourself, and I’m going to have to physically _fight_ you.” Patton threatened, earning a small giggle from Virgil. He’d never heard Patton threaten anyone with anything, and he couldn’t imagine Patton being tough. 

 

“You fighting is like a… a kitten trying to play with a big dog.” Virgil said, imagining Patton being picked up by Roman, kicking and screaming the entire way while Roman was entirely un-phased.

 

“You’ve never seen me fight!” 

 

“Well, that’s how I imagine it would look like.” 

 

_“Hey!”_  


	12. 5.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we really need to solve our problems in a better way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! This week’s updates (Monday and next Thursday) are gonna be a little weird because I’m actually on vacation in Mexico right now! We didn’t get enough comments on the last chapter but I still wanted to roll this one out to complete the arc. 
> 
> Fun fact of the chapter: Logan’s amusement is based off of my own (can you tell?)
> 
> As always a huge thank you to Clam for beta reading, please comment (goal is 10, rememberrrrr) and if you have any art/one-shots of this fic you can show us by tagging #mindpalacearcadefic on tumblr!
> 
> Nox

Virgil walked in for another staff development day to find Logan in the laser tag lobby, typing away on his laptop. This wasn’t out of the ordinary for Logan, although why he chose the laser tag lobby of all places was odd. 

 

“I’ll be there in a second.” Logan said, pointing towards the door. Virgil dropped his backpack on the floor and slipped his vest on, yawning as he grabbed the laser gun. 

 

He found himself in the middle, facing Dylan. 

 

“You’ve _got_ to be kidding me.” Virgil yelled. “Seriously? Is this how you all think we should solve our problems? This isn’t even as drastic as last time, I’m not trying to quit again!” 

 

The intercom powered on. 

 

 _“Well, it has proven to be the most effective way.”_ Logan defended from the control room. Virgil rolled his eyes while Dylan looked up, unsure of what exactly was going on. 

 

When he’d walked in this morning, he’d only seen Logan, who had given him a vague schedule of the day. If Dylan didn’t know any better, he would have thought the others were about to attack him. Strangely enough, with Virgil scowling next to him, he felt safer now. 

 

“It’s been the _only_ way you’ve tried so far! You couldn’t have just let us sort this out on our own?” Virgil shouted back, and Logan paused. 

 

 _“Well, yes. But we’re still in the experimental stage of the scientific method. Plus, it makes these days all the more entertaining.”_ He explained, trying not to laugh as Virgil bared his teeth to the room above. 

 

 _“Now, Virgil, you know the protocol, and Dylan, I assume you’ve never played the Mind Palace Arcade’s version of laser tag. The two of you are against a team of three: Patton, Roman, and Thomas.”_ Virgil flapped his hand in mocking fashion, clearly having heard this before. _“Your goal is to collect five out of seven toys that are scattered around the arena. The caveat is that you two cannot, under any circumstance, leave each other’s side, otherwise you will have to automatically forfeit the game. And before you ask me, Virgil, Thomas and I are fully aware that this is cliche, but in the spirit of amusement, we’ll forgo that thought. Ten seconds to get to the safe zone.”_ Logan instructed, smirking as Virgil flipped him the middle finger. 

 

_“Ten, nine, eight…”_

 

“Are we going to win or not? Come on, Dylan.” For a brief moment, Dylan thought he saw Virgil soften up, back to the way he had when they were friends. That thought disappeared when Virgil sped up, clearly trying to lose him in the chase. 

 

Virgil was stubborn, he knew that much. Unfortunately, Dylan forgot the extent of that stubbornness, having been separated from him for too long. 

 

“Luckily, we don’t have Logan playing today, or we wouldn’t actually have a chance. The other three are mild threats at best.” Virgil said. “So, uh, watch my back, and I’ll keep an eye on yours.” 

 

“Wait, so is this how you guys solve all of your problems?” Dylan asked. “Seriously?” 

 

“Yeah, well, if we’re not trying to hire someone to solve them, we’re playing laser tag.” Virgil said with an awkward laugh.

 

“How is this place still running?” 

 

“Honestly? I have no idea.” Virgil shook his head.

 

“I missed you.” Dylan said after a pause of silence. “I.. I’m not lying.” 

 

Virgil looked at him, his walls building up. “Thanks, I guess.” He said, and muttered, “Just don’t make us lose”, as an after-thought.

 

Virgil and Dylan walked through the arena, occasionally ducking in spots Virgil called “visibility spots”. 

 

“First toy.” Virgil headed for it, but was stopped. 

 

“Not so fast.” Roman appeared, clearly trying to act as a sinister character. Virgil rolled his eyes. 

 

“For the last time, Princey, this is _laser tag,_ not Shakespeare in the park.” Virgil groaned, shooting Thomas, who was trying to creep up on him. His aim was impeccable - he hadn’t even been looking in his manager’s direction when he’d shot. Dylan got Patton, who was moving exaggeratingly, following Roman’s lead. “You know how this works, you always let us win.” 

 

Dylan winked at Virgil, slowly aiming as the security guard scoffed. “I don’t _always_ let you win-” 

 

 _Pew, pew, pew._ Roman’s vest lights turned off. “Curses!” Roman screeched, and Virgil rolled his eyes again, grabbing Dylan’s wrist and racing back to the safe zone while everyone was temporarily disabled. 

 

“We have to do that four more times?” Dylan exhaled as they reached the safe zone. 

 

“It gets easier as you go.” Virgil shrugged, placing the toy down. 

 

“Really?” Dylan asked, and Virgil didn’t get the chance to answer before the speakers clicked.

 

 _“Roman, your vest is back online, please get up.”_ Logan sighed from the intercom. 

 

“What do you think?” Virgil said. “They’re idiots.” 

 

Twenty minutes later, the two were hiding behind a barrier, preparing to ambush the others. 

 

“I’m sorry I treated you like shit all those years ago.” Dylan said, and Virgil glanced over his shoulder. 

 

“You and Princey have the worst timing for apologies.” 

 

“Wasn’t that the whole point of this?” 

 

“And I’m sorry for being impatient. There, was that what you wanted to hear?” Virgil scowled, his voice a growl more than anything.

 

Dylan sighed, “Okay, drop the act for a second.” He knew how Virgil got when he was upset, his snarky attitude rising in attempts to hide any hurt feelings. To Virgil, Dylan was always one of those people who could see right through him - whether he liked it or not.

 

“Fine, I missed you too and thought you hated me, so that’s why I’ve been mean. Sorry about that. We good?” 

 

“Wait-”

 

“Ambush now, talk later.” Virgil said, leaping into action and grabbing the other toys. The two raced back to their base, panting as the intercom clicked on again.

 

 _“Virgil and Dylan win. Did you two figure things out, or do we need to run this again?”_ Logan asked, leaning over the control board to look down at them. Virgil flashed him a thumbs up as Dylan looked at him with a confused expression. 

 

“We’re… We’re okay?” Dylan asked in surprise. 

 

“We’re on mutuals territory.” Virgil said, glancing over quickly at his old friend. 

 

“Good enough for me.” Logan just hoped Dylan was right.


	13. 6.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's holiday time bitches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! Once again, we didn’t quite reach our goal this time, so maybe if this happens more we’ll tone down the updates to once a week. Anywho, I recognize that it is August but considering the timeline of the story, it is now Christmas in their world. 
> 
> Fun fact of the chapter: I actually had a really difficult time writing this. It was so difficult getting in the holiday spirit (especially when it’s 6 months away!) 
> 
> Thank you to Clam for being my amazing beta reader, comment goal is 10 and if you have any art/one-shots/extra stuff you want us to see of this fanfic you can show us by tagging #mindpalacearcadefic on tumblr! 
> 
> Nox

On December first, Patton skipped into the arcade, arms filled with a box of what appeared to be christmas decorations. 

 

“IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME!” He yelled into the nearly empty arcade, oblivious to the blank stares he was receiving from his coworkers. “It’s time to get into the holiday spirit!” 

 

“What… er.. Whatcha got there, Patton?” Roman asked awkwardly, breaking the silence. 

 

“I got decorations and things for an added part of the uniform! There’s something in here for everyone!” Patton sang, skipping over to the prize counter and setting the box down. The others shared looks between each other before following him, curious to see what he had in store. 

 

Logan and Thomas appeared from the office, wondering what all the commotion was about. “What on earth…” Logan said, looking at the box. “Patton, we can’t have Christmas specific decorations, that will alienate the customers who don’t celebrate it.” 

 

“Oh, I know that!” Patton waved his hand at Logan, digging through the box with his other hand. “The only specific decorations are the uniform things.” 

 

“I… uh, uniform?” Logan yelped, trying to process what exactly was going on. 

 

“Like we can hang up these snowflake lights around the counter!” Patton pulled out a tangled mess of lights from the box, multiple sets with different light bulb colors and shapes. Virgil snickered as he watched Logan get more and more frustrated as the conversation continued. 

 

“Patton, we’re in  _ Florida _ _._ It doesn’t even get cold enough to snow here-” Logan pointed out, but Roman cut him off. 

 

“Oh, Logan, don’t be a Scrooge!” Roman said. “My dear, Patton, you said you had something for everyone?”

 

“Here we go.” Virgil mumbled sarcastically, as Dylan stepped closer, appearing curious with hands clasped behind his back. 

 

“Yeah! We can wear these for the month!” Patton pulled out a number of differently colored Santa hats. He passed them out, saving Logan’s for last. Logan didn’t look too excited as Patton pulled down a dark blue Santa hat on the manager’s head, holding the edges of the hat a few seconds too long, his cheeks appearing to be tinted a light pink afterwards. “Here, I got your favorite colors! Well, except for Thomas, his is just black.” 

 

“That’s really thoughtful of you, Patton.” Thomas complimented as Logan shot him a tired look. 

 

“Hey, Patton, you happen to have any mistletoe?” Dylan asked, smirking as panic set into Virgil’s eyes. 

 

“Yeah, maybe I can hang them up after laser tag! And we can do a staff Secret Santa too! Maybe we could hang mistletoe in laser tag!” Patton suggested, and Logan’s face paled. 

 

“This should be interesting.” Thomas teased, nudging Logan.

 

~~~

 

For a majority of the month, Logan hid in his office, desperate to avoid being caught by the mistletoe. Virgil and Dylan both hid in their respective spots, while Thomas freely roamed, unafraid. The rules of mistletoe were very lax, however; they seemingly didn’t apply unless they could catch the person they wanted underneath it. 

 

The week after the decorations had been set up, Patton had brought in a jar of names before work. “Come over here! It’s time for Secret Santa!” Patton exclaimed, despite the fact that everyone was already standing around the prize counter. “And no switching! You get who you get-” 

 

“And you don’t throw a fit.” Virgil finished the phrase, shooting him a grin. “We open in 15 minutes, so let’s hurry this up.” 

 

“Remind me why we’re doing this?” Logan asked, and Patton simply grinned. 

 

“Well, that’s ‘cause I can’t spend the holidays with you all!” Patton explained, and Thomas looked at the man quizzically. 

 

“Patton, we’re not spending the holidays together in the first place.” Thomas said, and Patton waved it off. Thomas’s work family was the family he preferred to be with, but he had obligations with his parents and brothers. He knew Logan was wanted back home by his family as well. 

 

“Draw a name!” Patton announced, and the others sighed, stepping forward to retrieve a slip of paper each. “We’ll give them on the last day.” 

  
  
“Christmas party at my apartment?” Roman suggested, and the others agreed. “So it’s settled then, we’ll have a party after the last day of work.” 

 

Sure enough, two weeks later, Logan found himself walking into Roman’s apartment again, carrying a wrapped present in his hand. 

 

“Everyone’s here!” Roman cheered. As Logan looked around, he noticed Virgil and Dylan were on the couch together, quietly catching up while Patton and Thomas talked about the process of finding the presents. An open box of pizza was set on the coffee table, half eaten. Logan noticed that there seemed to be more than 6 presents under Roman’s tree, a majority of them wrapped in light blue paper. 

 

“Shall we get to presents?” Roman asked, sitting down on the ground next to Logan. Patton grinned, sitting next to Logan on the floor and reaching for the presents to pass out, far too excited, in Logan’s professional opinion   

 

“Ok so I know we all had a specific person we should get presents for.  _ But, _ I was shopping for my person’s present and I found something he would love! So I had to get it for him! But then I felt bad that I wouldn’t be giving everyone a present, so I got one for everyone, and they can’t open it until Christmas.”

 

Logan, despite the illogical rambling from Patton, found it endearing and caused him a small smile. Virgil was smirking at him from across the circle and Logan didn’t much care for the message he was sending.

 

Thomas watched the entire exchange from Logan’s side, and smirked. Logan could be vehement about not liking Patton like that, but it was obvious Logan was lying to himself.

 

Roman, oblivious to everything, proudly proclaimed he was opening his present first. “Alright, who was my secret Santa?” 

 

“Me!” Patton cheered. “Open it, open it, open it!” 

 

Roman unwrapped the paper to reveal a scrapbook looking strikingly similar to the one from the Pixar movie Up. He opened the book to find it half empty, and he looked up at Patton in confusion. 

 

“I didn’t have enough pictures to fill it, but maybe we can take more and do it together.” Patton suggested. “I did decorate all of the pages though.” 

 

“Patton, that’s so kind of you. Thank you.” Roman said, and for a brief second, Virgil thought he saw Roman tearing up as he looked through the book. 

 

“It’s my turn, I suppose. Dylan, I got you.” Roman handed their newest coworker a fairly large bag. Dylan glanced at the security guard quizzically after taking a peek at what was in the bag. 

 

“You remembered the conversation.” He mumbled as he pulled out what appeared to be a plush version of one of the characters from Five Nights At Freddy’s. Roman had joked once that Dylan was the arcade’s day shift guard because of his position with the cameras, and that had somehow started a long winded discussion of the indie horror franchise. To Dylan’s surprise, Roman was a fan of the games as well. 

 

“I have a friend who’s really good with that sort of thing.” Roman shrugged as Patton handed Dylan the second present. Carefully, Dylan tucked it into the first gift bag while Patton beamed at him. 

 

“Uh, Thomas.. Here.” Dylan handed his manager a haphazardly wrapped bag-like object. The manager in question tore it open to find a t-shirt that had the arcade logo and establishment date on the front. “I… started making designs. I just thought the logo might need a little revamping, and uh-” He was cut off by Thomas practically tackling him with a hug. 

 

“I love it! It’s amazing!” He gushed. “Oh my god, thank you so much!” 

 

“N-no problem?” Dylan stuttered out, awkwardly patting him on the back. Fortunately, Thomas leapt up once he realized it was his turn to give a gift to somebody. 

 

“Hey, Virge! I got you!” The technician, who had been watching everyone with a fond look in his eyes, startled as he heard his name. His eyes landed on Thomas, who was putting the present in his lap. “I noticed your hoodie was looking a little torn, and Logan helped me find a new one!” Virgil looked at him after he tore off the paper. The hoodie in question seemed to be the exact same one he was wearing, except for the fact that it was dyed a dark purple. 

 

“Thanks, Thomas. I guess that leaves me.” Virgil tossed a small present at Logan. “Here, since you love learning.” 

 

Logan carefully undid the wrapping to find a thick book titled “Video Game Mechanics: The Physics and Engineering of the Arcade”. He cleared his throat. “This will be fun. Thank you, Virgil.” The technician looked as if he was about to crack under Logan’s gaze. 

 

Patton didn’t seem to notice he hadn’t received a present. However, on their way out, Logan stopped Patton in the hallway. 

 

“Merry Christmas, Patton.” Logan said, handing Patton a small parcel. 

 

Patton looked up at him with a grin. “So you’re my Secret Santa.” 

 

“Yes.. why else would I give you a gift?” 

 

“Because we’re friends.” Patton said. “Can I open it?” 

 

“Wasn’t the opening the entire point of the party?” 

 

Patton ignored Logan’s sarcasm, tearing the paper open to reveal a book called “101 Puns”. 

 

“Aww, Lo, I love it! Thank you.” Patton’s smile was the kind of smile that made you smile back. A corner of Logan’s mouth raised into a lopsided grin. 

 

“Merry Christmas, Logan.” 


	14. 7.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> remy is a mess and so are they but they might as well be messes together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I don't exactly have a note prepared because I was traveling all of yesterday (god, I HATE airports...) so this one will be shorter than usual. Fun fact of the chapter: Patton has found all of the employees at Mind Palace, except for Logan and Thomas. Not surprising considering his bubbly personality!
> 
> As usual this chapter's comment goal is 10! Thank you always to Clam for beta reading (and helping me write sometimes). If you make anything inspired by this fic you can show us on tumblr by tagging #mindpalacearcadefic. See you next week! 
> 
> Nox

By now, the Help Wanted sign seemed to be a permanent fixture on the arcade windows. However, no one seemed to show any interest in applying, and so the number of staff stayed at 6. 

 

Spring sped by, and somehow, by May, Logan found himself at a crossroad. They had the revenue to hire another person, but did they even need one? The arcade wasn’t too big to handle, and the money could be put towards potentially expanding and advertising. 

 

Still, Thomas was at the coin counter, despite being a manager. While Logan got to walk around, Thomas worked as a normal employee would.

 

“Thomas?” Logan asked as they walked out of the arcade for the night. “What do you think about hiring another person? That way you wouldn’t be at the coin counter all day.” 

 

“That would be nice.” Thomas sighed. “Or just somebody on hand to do things like clean up wrappers and the restrooms.” He tapped the Help Wanted sign on the window. “Someone will come. Or Patton will find them.” Thomas laughed, realizing that Patton had actively taken in so many of their current staff. 

 

Sure enough, help did come, in the form of the one and only: Remy Stax. 

 

Remy was a college student, studying at the nearby community college to get credits to transfer over to the state school. He was already out of the house, but still needed cash for himself. His Starbucks addiction wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. 

 

And that led him straight to the arcade. 

 

He didn’t have any qualifications that would make him stand out. He hadn’t even been to the arcade as a customer before. Walking by, he noticed the months-old help wanted sign and made his way inside with barely a passing thought. 

 

This particular afternoon was slow, with the arcade nearly empty. Most of the kids had finals in school, their absence made clear with the lower noise level in the building. When Remy walked in, Thomas looked at the doors, wondering if the slow afternoon would pick up. 

 

“Are you guys still accepting applications?” Remy asked, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder as he spoke. “I saw the sign outside.” 

 

Thomas glanced around before taking in a deep breath and yelling, “LOGAN!” 

 

The aforementioned man stumbled out into the open, worried that Thomas had attracted some sort of trouble. To his surprise, he found his co-manager standing there with a grin on his face and an unfamiliar man next to him. 

 

“I thought we agreed to only yell in emergencies.” Logan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s unprofessional to do so otherwise.” 

 

“It is an emergency! It's not like anyone’s here, anyway.” Thomas defended, and Logan looked at him, gesturing over to Remy. 

 

“They are!” 

 

“Uh, I just use the regular he/him pronouns-” 

 

“Okay, then _he_ is. What’s this emergency?” Logan crossed his arms and looked at Thomas expectantly.   


“Our wishes have been answered by this young man who wants to apply!” Thomas said, and Logan sighed. 

 

“I apologize for my co-manager, he forgets how to code-switch in front of potential employees.” Logan said, ignoring the yelp Thomas let out as he spoke. “Would you like to come with me to the office? We keep our application forms in there.” 

 

“Who’s he?” Patton appeared from nowhere, pointing at Remy. 

 

“Patton, don’t point-” 

 

“He might be the newest member of our team!” Thomas said to Patton, and Logan sighed while Remy shot the manager a sympathetic smile. Although the three men seemed to be similar in age, it was clear that Logan was the parent of the group. 

 

“Really!! Oh my gosh they’re-“

 

“He.”

 

“-He is _so cute!!"_

 

“He’s not hired yet.” Logan cut through Patton’s ramblings. “He’s only inquiring.” 

 

“Getting hired is the goal, though.” Remy said with a cheeky grin, and it took Logan slapping a hand over Patton’s mouth to prevent the man from squealing even more. 

 

“You wouldn’t happen to know any Virgil, Roman, or Dylan’s would you? We’d like to prevent any bad interactions as we’ve had incidents in the past.” Remy shook his head, wondering who the three were, and what mother would give a child a name so close to the word “virgin”. 

 

“Well, Remy, shall we?” Logan asked, carefully removing his hand from Patton’s face and wiping it on his pants. “This way please.” 

 

“Good luck!” Patton and Thomas stage-whispered to Remy as he and Logan walked to the office. 

 

Even then, Logan knew that their newest recruit wouldn’t need it. 

 

~~~

 

“Everyone, this is Remy Stax, he’s going to be helping around the arcade. He’ll also be running the coin counter in the front. Remy, would you like to-” 

 

“You’re here!” Logan was interrupted by Patton, who bolted for Remy to give him a hug. “I knew you’d do well!” 

 

“Patton, please.” Logan sent him a tired look and Patton quieted, still bouncing as he detached himself from Remy. 

 

Remy looked at the others. They all seemed to have a distinct color, and while they all worked in the same place, it didn’t look like it. The only thing they all had in common were the name tags attached to their shirts. 

 

“Uh, is there a uniform, or..” Logan followed Remy’s gaze. 

 

“We’re working on it.” Logan said as Thomas furiously typed the words “Figure out uniform” into the reminders app of his phone. 

 

The one in the weird patchy hoodie spoke up, “I’m Virgil, the person trying to inch back to the security room is Dylan and the person who looks like an off-brand Disney character is Roman.” Virgil waved to the other two as Roman sputtered offendedly. “Roman and Remy. What’s next, another R name?” 

 

“It’s purely a coincidence.” Logan assured Virgil as Remy giggled. 

 

“Time for initiation?” Virgil smirked as Remy’s eyes widened in fear. 

 

“What’s that?” 

 

“Laser tag!” 

 

“Virgil we’re about to open for the day-” 

 

“LASER TAG!”


	15. 8.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the one where the arcade has it's first birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! You guys went above and beyond with the comment goal this week! I don’t want to set it any higher but please comment, it means the world to me and Clam when you do. Even if it’s a simple “hey this chapter was fun to read”! Stuff like that makes me want to finish writing this!
> 
> fun fact of the chapter: I’d like to think that Thomas met Logan during one of those classroom icebreakers that you always do during the first day of school. i’d also like to think that Logan was definitely the one who did all the summer assignments while Thomas was the one who went “we had summer homework?!” (really, it’s up to you to decide. maybe we’ll write a chapter about it one day, though I’m not too fond of doing flashbacks).
> 
> Thank you to Clam for getting me through the writing of this chapter, comment goal is 10 (or more.. pls) and if you have any art/one-shots/extras you want us to see of this fanfic you can show us by tagging #mindpalacearcadefic on tumblr! (I really wanna see chibi roman acting dramatic) 
> 
> Nox

“Thomas.” Logan repeated for the umpteenth time. _“Thomas.”_  

 

“Huh?” Thomas blinked, his gaze focusing on Logan now. “Sorry, what?” 

 

“Look at the date.” 

 

“Uh-” Thomas hurriedly tapped his phone and looked at the date. “June 12th?” 

 

“Does that ring a bell?” 

 

“No?” Logan looked at his co-manager exasperatedly. Had Thomas really forgotten?

 

“Thomas, tomorrow marks the arcade’s one year anniversary.” Logan deadpanned, watching as Thomas’s face changed with the realization. 

 

“It’s been a year?” 

 

“364 days.” 

 

Thomas remembered that night, three years ago. The arcade had started as a complete fever dream. But the more he planned, the more he wanted to make it a reality. 

 

Which is how he ended up at Logan’s door close to midnight after meticulously planning and brainstorming. 

 

He thought Logan would laugh at him, say that it was impossible. That’s what he’d been hearing his whole life; dreams were impossible to reach. And yet, Logan listened to Thomas’s crazed rambling and looked over the plans and decided to support his friend. Thomas couldn’t have been more grateful. 

 

A week later, Logan appeared on Thomas’s doorstep with a binder full of budget plans and possible spaces. 

 

“What’s this?” Thomas had asked as Logan shoved the binder towards him. 

 

“Volume one.” Logan had replied simply, bending down and picking up more binders that were sitting on the floor. “I made eight volumes, and that’s just the finances broken down. We haven’t even gotten to revenue or employee pay-”   
  
Thomas hugged him, effectively knocking the other binders out of Logan’s hands. “Thank you so much.” 

 

“I just threw those together, it’s really not that much..” 

 

“Are you kidding me?” Thomas asked, picking up the binders from the ground. “You did this in a week, Logan. This is like three months of progress and research, and you did it in _one week_.”

 

“Thomas, really, it’s not-” 

  
Thomas shot him a look. “It’s top-quality work for something you’re not even getting paid to do. And it’s a lot.” Logan swallowed. 

 

“So please, for Pete’s sake, take the compliment.” 

 

“I-” 

 

_“Logan.”_

 

He took the compliment. 

 

~~~

 

The next day, Thomas walked up the steps to the arcade. On the eves of the building, a banner was haphazardly strung up, reading **_“HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIND PALACE”_ **. 

 

“What the..” Thomas looked at the banner before shaking it off and walking inside. 

 

“Guys?” He called out. Most of the arcade machines were off, and so were the lights. “I thought Logan was opening today.” 

 

He flicked the lights on and the others jumped out from behind the machines. “SURPRISE!” They all chorused. 

 

“What’s going on?” Thomas asked as Patton pulled a cake from behind the coin counter. 

 

“The arcade’s a year old!” Patton cheered. “Logan told me last night, and he got us to make sure it didn’t go unnoticed.” 

 

Thomas looked at his best friend with a smirk. “The man who insists he has no feelings does this?” 

 

“It… may have been slipped to Patton.” Logan said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “We’re opening later today to have the festivities now.” 

 

After everyone was settled down with a piece of cake (even Logan, who dutifully shut up about sugar when Patton offered him a plate), Virgil approached Thomas cautiously. 

 

“Hey. Uh, thanks, for all this.” Virgil gestured towards the others. “I don’t think I could’ve expected friends like this when I fixed that skee ball machine.” The two looked at the others, which was certainly a sight. Remy, Dylan, and Roman were yelling about the latest Game Theory video on what seemed to be yet another indie video game, while Patton was trying (keyword: _trying_ _)_ to get Logan to eat some purple frosting. 

 

“I don’t think we expected this when we first started working on it.” Thomas laughed as a glob of purple frosting landed on Logan’s face. “But I’m happy this is where we got, only a year after opening.” 

 

“I hope things don’t change.” Virgil blurted out. “It’s only been a year, but I think I’d genuinely be upset if anything happened.” 

 

“Anything’s bound to happen. It’s only been a year and look at what we’ve been through!” Thomas shot Virgil a grin. “Every day’s an adventure with you all.” 

 

“Yep. Every day.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prepare for the next chapter... ;)


	16. 9.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i've just seen a face, i can't forget the time or place where we've just met

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Mind Palace! Wow, I really freaked you all out with the last note I left. I wish I could say things go up from here, but, I’m pretty sure I cried while writing the upcoming arc. On the upside, some people have been asking for this character for a while. 
> 
> This is something that’s been hinted for a while (I refer you to Patton’s last name). I really hope you enjoy this.
> 
> The fun fact is that the Picani parents aren’t exactly in the picture. You’ll see what I mean in a little while. 
> 
> As usual, thank you for reading, and make sure to leave your thoughts below! Clam did a wonderful job beta’ing so go yell some appreciation to them too! Use #mindpalacearcadefic if you make anything you want us to see on Tumblr!
> 
> Nox

For most people, it was an average Thursday. 

 

For Emile Picani, it felt like the worst day of his life. 

 

_ What do you want to be when you grow up? _ The college advisor had asked during their second meeting. Emile had answered this question before with a simple shrug, but the advisor wouldn’t take that answer. He was going to be applying to colleges soon; how could he not know what he wanted to do for the rest of his life?

 

Emile had replied with the only thing he knew he wanted in his life: “Cartoons.” 

 

The college advisor had looked at him, unsure of what to say. The boy braced himself, knowing what was coming. “Emile, that’s… You have the grades to be anything you want to be, and you want to throw that all away with by pursuing a career in  _ cartoons?”  _

 

“It won’t be throwing my grades away.” 

 

The advisor stood then, a small frown on his face, and placed a hand on Emile’s shoulder. 

 

“Why don’t we meet in a couple of weeks? Maybe then you’ll have a clearer head.” Emile only nodded, grabbing his backpack and walking out of the door. 

 

Of course, that was a stupid answer. Cartoons were for little kids, or people who couldn’t grow up. Cartoons were for people like Patton, who would never grow up in mentality. They’d play pretend for forever. 

 

Despite the small part of him that scorned Patton, Emile found himself walking out of the school, straight to the arcade. Patton would know what to say. 

 

Realistically, Patton couldn’t fix everything, but he sure as hell could try. That’s what Emile admired most in his older brother. 

 

Emile had been to the arcade once before, but that was only when Patton had to drop off something that he’d accidentally taken home with him. He had a general idea of where it was, and Google Maps led the way to the older Picani. 

 

“I’m looking for Patton?” Emile said to the man at the coin counter, who smiled and pointed in the direction of the prize counter. There, Patton was helping a young family pick out a stuffed animal. 

 

“Excellent choice.” Patton said, giving the little girl a high-five before they walked away. Emile watched Patton smile to himself before realizing his little brother was there. 

 

“Emile? School’s not out for another hour.” Patton’s brow furrowed in confusion, and Emile looked guiltily at the multicolored carpet. 

 

Patton stepped out from behind the counter. “Hey, bud, what’s going on?” Patton lifted Emile’s chin with a gentle finger to see that the boy was trying to hold back tears. 

 

“N-not here.” Emile sniffled, and Patton glanced around before taking Emile to the same closet he’d found Virgil in all those months ago. By now, the closet was nicer, due to the fact that Virgil and Patton had somehow convinced Logan that the closet was to be a more private version of a break room. There were foldable chairs, with a little bit of plush on the seat. Plus, Virgil liked to leave objects that grounded him: multiple pairs of earbuds for music, stress balls, tissues, a small blanket. 

 

“Better?” Patton asked once they were seated with a small smile. Emile nodded and scooted closer, clinging to Patton the way he always did when he got like this. 

 

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Emile shook his head, and Patton hummed. “Okay, do you want me to distract you?” Another shake of the head as Emile practically tackled Patton, clutching the fabric of his shirt and burying his face into his older brother’s chest. 

 

Patton frowned, wrapping both of his arms around the boy, not caring if his shirt would be wrinkled or covered in snot later. 

 

“Bad day at school?” Patton asked, rubbing small circles into Emile’s back. “You’re okay now. You’re safe. No one’s going to hurt you.” 

 

~~~

 

Logan looked at the prize counter for the fifth time in the past minute, wondering where on earth Patton could be. It wasn’t like the man to just disappear into thin air. 

 

“Thomas, have you seen Patton?” Logan asked, fear making its way into his voice. “I could’ve sworn he was just here…” 

 

“A teenager walked in earlier looking for Patton. Maybe he’s talking to him.” Thomas suggested. “Maybe Virgil knows, why don’t you ask him once the current round of laser tag is over?” 

 

“Ask me what?” Virgil appeared. “I heard my name.”    
  


“Have you seen Patton?” 

 

“He’s not at the counter? I don’t know then, I haven’t seen him all afternoon.” Virgil shrugged. “Did you try Roman or Dylan? Or… wait, Remy hasn’t clocked in yet. Nevermind him.” 

 

Virgil headed back to the laser tag arena, and Thomas sent Logan a sympathetic look before going back to the coin counter.

 

“Dylan, have you seen Patton?” Logan asked tiredly, bursting into the security room. Dylan wordlessly switched over to one of the cameras from half an hour ago and played the feedback. 

 

“He took someone into the break down closet.” Dylan said. “Hasn’t come out since then.” 

 

“Thank you!” Logan said, rushing off to the other side of the arcade. 

 

He nearly ran into the door, but slowed down enough to stop just before he slammed into it. Recomposing himself, he knocked twice. 

 

From inside, he could hear Patton. 

 

“Hey, bud, I know you don’t want me to leave, but I still need to work. I’m sorry.” Patton said gently. “Is it okay if I leave you in here until my shift is over?” Pause. “No? Bud, I can’t do that.” 

 

Logan knocked again. 

 

“Coming!” Patton said, his voice sounding weak. “Who is it?” 

 

“Logan.” 

 

“Uh, come in.” 

 

Logan gently twisted the doorknob and swung open the door to reveal Emile, who was partially sitting on Patton’s lap. 

 

“Am I interrupting something?” Logan asked. Patton shot him a sheepish look. 

 

“Lo, this is my little brother, Emile. He’s a junior in high school.” 

 

Logan got closer, crouched down. “Hey, Emile. I’m Logan, Patton’s boss.” He watched as Emile’s eyes widened. “Hey, it’s okay, I’m not here to put your brother in trouble. I was just wondering where he was.” 

 

Emile sniffled and watched Logan cautiously. 

 

“You can go home early, I’ll get Remy to cover the prize counter.” Logan offered. “We’ll discuss things tomorrow morning.” 

 

Logan headed out, but before he could close the door, Patton caught his wrist. “Lo, I can come back once I make sure he’s okay-” 

 

“No. It looks like he needs you. Go on.” Logan gave Patton a reassuring smile that sent a pleasant shiver down his spine. 

 

“Thanks, Lo.” Patton whispered before closing the door. 

 

“So, that was Logan?” Emile asked curiously. “The guy you talk about?” 

 

Patton sighed. “Yeah.”


	17. 9.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops i don't have a note prepared
> 
> fun fact of the chapter: Clam and I were screaming about it for a good half hour   
> comment goal is 10, thank you always to Clam for beta'ing, and if you make anything inspired from this fic please tag us on tumblr @ #mindpalacearcadefic. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Nox

When Patton arrived at work the next day, Logan lead him into the office and sat down. 

 

“I’m really sorry about my brother, sometimes he just gets a certain way and he needs someone to calm him down and he only trusts me to do that-” Patton started to ramble, but Logan held a hand up, signaling for him to stop. 

 

Instead of saying it was okay, Logan kept his eyes focused on Patton. “Patton, is there something going on at home that you’d like to tell me about?” 

 

Patton swallowed, feeling the same guilt a kid would feel after being caught making trouble. Logan was close enough by now; why hadn’t Patton told him about it? 

 

To be honest, Patton was ashamed of Emile, of his family. 

 

Patton’s parents weren’t awful. They didn’t hit or scream or yell… at least not to their kids. Their awful was a different kind, something buried deep in the Picani family. They’d been trapped in a custody battle since Emile was a baby. Items were one thing to argue over; humans were another. 

 

Patton had had enough of it by the time he left the house; so much so that when he left, he took a thirteen-year old Emile with him. His parents signed the documents with no questions asked, and the nine-year argument was put to rest. 

 

The beginning was difficult for Patton. Luckily, his college didn’t require him to live on campus for the first year, and with money that he’d made from part-time jobs, the two rented a tiny, one-bedroom apartment. For a year, Patton slept on the couch, made sure things were paid for, and above all, was there for Emile through every breakdown. 

 

His social life was practically non-existent, and it took his roommate’s constant begging (from the second apartment) to get him out on Friday nights. 

 

At only 24, Patton had acted as a better parent to Emile compared to their actual parents. That was utterly terrifying. 

 

Through it all, Patton never asked for help, not until he was collapsing with fatigue. He expected himself to be at 100% capability constantly.

 

Logan waited patiently as Patton’s inner conflict raged on. The arcade wasn’t set to open for another hour, and it was the weekend, so Remy could take care of the prize counter if need be. 

 

“I live with my little brother. It’s just the two of us.” Patton admitted quietly. “Since the moment I turned 18.” 

 

Logan studied Patton’s face carefully, wondering if that was all the information that he’d get for now. But then: 

 

“I never expected you to find out this way. I’m sorry.” 

 

Logan’s heartstrings tugged at this. Patton was clearly struggling as a guardian for a teenager, and yet, he was still apologizing for letting that get in the way of his job. Logan wasn’t sure if he’d ever met someone that selfless. 

 

“It’s okay.” Logan said gently. “Please let Emile know that he is always welcome in here.” He stood up. “I’ll give you a minute to mull things over.” 

 

As Logan walked out, he had the desire to help Patton, more than he ever had for anyone else. The more he thought about it, Patton and Thomas were the heart of the arcade. Patton seemed to be an endless ball of sunshine, except when Emile had walked into the arcade. 

 

Despite his best efforts, Logan couldn’t get the image of Emile and Patton out of his head. How long had they been alone, just the two of them? How much had Patton endured to make sure that his little brother was safe? 

 

Back in the office, Patton groaned inwardly. Had he said too much? He didn’t want the others to worry about him, they had much more important things to worry about. Besides, he was fine. 

 

If fine meant going to every single college advising presentation and wondering how the hell he was going to support Emile. 

 

If fine meant late nights with budgeting spreadsheets and falling asleep at the dining table. 

 

If fine meant lying through his teeth day and night when it came to his mental state. 

 

He needed to make the present, the future, good for Emile. He couldn’t screw up, not now. This was when Emile needed him most, to protect him from the not-so-nice world that they lived in.    
  


He’d be fine keeping things this way, if it meant his little brother was happy. 

  
That’s all that mattered. 


	18. 9.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emile doesn't really know what he's doing with his life and neither do I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! Once again I don't have a note prepared (whoops), so this will be really quick!  
> Fun fact of the chapter: Emile's experiences are starting to be based off of my own because we're the same age??? so that's fun  
> Thank you to Clam for beta reading and you all for your comments last update! They always make me crack up + give me insight of what you all are thinking the fic is heading (unfortunately the predictions are getting more and more accurate with each update). Our comment goal is 10 as always and if you make anything related to this fic, please tag us on tumblr using #mindpalacearcadefic !
> 
> Nox

_ The Mind Palace Arcade  _

 

**_[Logan has created the chat]_ **

 

**_[Logan]_ ** _ : I need your help.  _

 

**_[Virgil]_ ** _ : wait, shouldn’t Patton be a part of this chat? _

 

**_[Logan]:_ ** _ Patton is the reason this chat exists. _

 

**_[Roman]:_ ** _ ok… _

 

**_[Thomas]_ ** _ : we can’t solve this problem with laser tag? _

 

**_[Dylan]:_ ** _ srsly stop doing that, it works ok but that cannot be our last resort _

 

**_[Remy]:_ ** _ wait what _

 

**_[Logan]:_ ** _ Did any of you know that Patton has a little brother? _

 

**_[Thomas]:_ ** _ it makes sense _

 

**_[Logan]:_ ** _ Let me rephrase that. Did any of you know that Patton has been his little brother’s sole guardian since he was 18? _

 

**_[Roman]:_ ** _ no? _

 

**_[Roman]:_ ** _ what is the problem here exactly? _

 

**_[Logan]:_ ** _ The problem is that Patton doesn’t ask for help when he needs it, and right now, he needs help.  _

 

**_[Logan]:_ ** _ I have a plan but he can’t know. _

 

**_[Virgil]:_ ** _ and you sayy i’m the dramatic one _

 

~~~

 

The arcade was closed, but staff development was scheduled for the day, so the others worked as they normally did. When 4 o’clock came around, Emile appeared at the doors of the arcade, looking for Patton. 

 

He still wasn’t sure of what he was going to do after high school, and his meeting with the counselor was the next day. When Logan walked out to greet the younger Picani, Emile seemed tired and dismayed. 

 

Patton looked genuinely surprised when Emile appeared in the main entryway with Logan. “Hey, bud! I still need to work but Remy told me that he could take you on his Starbucks run. Sound good?”

 

“I- uh, yeah. Sure.” Emile said, adjusting the strap of his backpack on his shoulder. “Who’s Remy?” 

 

“Right here, kid.” Remy waved a hand as he walked up, stuffing his wallet and phone in the back pockets of his jeans. 

 

“No car accidents.” Patton told Remy as the younger man slung an arm around Emile. 

 

“Yeah, yeah. See you soon, Pat.” Remy said, an easy-going smile on his face as he lead Emile out of the arcade, flicking down his sunglasses to cover his eyes. 

 

“What’s up, kid? Patton said you’re a junior in high school.” Remy said, digging into his front pocket to unlock the beaten up car that they were approaching. 

 

“Yep.” 

 

“I’m a sophomore in college. Not much older than you.” Remy shrugged as Emile waited for the car doors to unlock. “Anything interesting happen at school today?” 

 

“No.” Emile said, climbing inside the car. “Nothing new.” 

 

The first few minutes of the drive were quiet, until Remy spoke up again at a stoplight. “Y’know, Patton told me you love to talk. Not feeling it today?” 

 

“You don’t have to do this.” Emile said, staring straight ahead. “You don’t need to pretend to be interested in what in what I have to say.” 

 

“Who says I’m not interested? I’m the one starting the conversation, Picani.” Remy said, turning onto another street. “Patton tells us a lot about you.” 

 

“Like what?” 

 

“Like your first day of high school, or if you got on the honor roll this year. But he also told us that you’re trying to figure out what to do for college.” Remy glanced over at the teenager in his passenger seat, trying to gauge Emile’s reaction. 

 

“Did he tell you that I have no idea what I’m doing with my life?” 

 

“He didn’t need to. I didn’t know what I was doing when I was your age.” Remy pulled into the parking lot, haphazardly parking in an empty spot. “No one really knows where they’re going to end up at that age.” Emile could mention that Remy parked on the line, but he chose not to. 

 

“According to Mr. Davis, I’m supposed to just… _know.”_ Emile mumbled, crossing his arms and slumping further into his seat. 

 

“Who’s Mr. Davis?” 

 

“The college counselor.”    
  


Remy chuckled. “Well, he may be a counselor, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that what he says is a lie. You don’t need to know everything about your future, you just need to know what general direction you want to go. Do you have that?” 

 

Emile mumbled something unintelligible and Remy smiled. “Well, why don’t you think about it, and we can go get some iced coffee? It’s warming up.” 

 

Five minutes later, the two sat at the counter of Starbucks, sipping on overly-sugary and over-priced drinks. “I like cartoons.” Emile blurted out, and Remy raised an eyebrow, taking another sip. 

 

“Cartoons, huh? What do you like about them?” 

 

“They make people laugh and they’re not just for kids, some of them have really important life lessons.” Emile launched into a ramble about Steven Universe and Remy listened patiently. For the first time that afternoon, Emile actually wanted to talk. 

 

“Do you think you’re gonna be a cartoonist one day?” 

 

Remy watched as Emile’s excited grin turned into a frown. “Mr. Davis says that I’ll be throwing my future away if I do that.” 

 

Remy held a hand up. “I think we’ve established that Mr. Davis lies a lot. It’ll be hard work, but you absolutely could be a cartoonist. Or an animator, if that’s more of your thing.” He paused. “It’s not his life, he’s not calling the shots. You are, Emile.” 

 

“But it’s not a steady job, and cartoons are for people who… who can’t grow up.” Emile argued, tears filling his eyes. “People like my brother.” 

 

Remy softened a little, setting his drink down and placing a hand on Emile’s shoulder. “Hey. What you just told me about Steven Universe is a completely complex concept, and not one most kids can grasp easily. Cartoons can be for anybody. Plus, there’s a difference in growing up and growing old.” 

 

The older man lifted a finger in the air. “Growing up is being boring because that’s what the rest of the world tells you to be. Growing old is just the natural process of aging.” He said solemnly, holding a hand over his heart, making Emile giggle. “The world needs people like you and Patton, people who will grow old but won’t grow up.” 

 

“But that means I won’t be normal.” 

 

“Hey, if you were born colorful, you might as well swim against the tide.” Remy grinned. “You know, when I declared my major, everyone in my family laughed, said that I was stupid. But graphic design is used everywhere, every single day. Just because something uses creativity doesn’t mean that it throws out all the hard work you do at school.” 

 

Emile was quiet until they returned to the arcade, speaking up only as the car pulled into the parking lot. 

 

“Thanks, Remy.” 

 

“No problem, kid.” 


	19. 9.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kinda wanted to cry while writing this because logicality is my number one ship-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers!   
> I don't have a note prepared this week (again) so here's a quick one!   
> Thank you to those of you who have been putting us on your recommended lists, you all are amazing and I'm so excited to see more readers of this fic! These next few chapters will be short before we dive back in to the longer ones (I have been hit with writers block..) 
> 
> As usual thank you to Clam for beta reading, thank you to all of YOU for your awesome comments, and if you ever want to show us anything on tumblr our hashtag is #mindpalacearcadefic! 
> 
> Nox

“This is a bad idea.” Virgil said, watching Logan put on the laser tag vest from the safety of the doorway to the control room. “I get that it’s worked before, but this is  _ Patton _ we’re talking about.” 

 

“It’s too late to come up with another plan, Remy just left with Emile and Patton thinks we still need to do laser tag anyways.” Logan sighed, fidgeting with the buttons.

 

“You calculated the chances, right? Factored in emotion, Patton...” Virgil said, a frown evident on his face. 

 

“Where are the others?” Logan deflected, and Virgil shrugged. 

 

“Getting Patton. But once he comes in, we’re out.” Virgil shook his head. “Tell me, what are the chances?” 

 

“It’s a fifty percent success rate.” 

 

“Lo...” 

 

“It  _ has _ to work, Virgil.” 

 

Virgil bit his lip as Logan looked at him, desperation in his eyes. “He can’t keep doing this to himself. I won’t let him.” 

 

“What if he doesn’t  _ want  _ help?” The same desperation that was in Logan’s eyes was now in Virgil’s. “What if he leaves?” 

 

“I guess we’ll just have to take that chance, won’t we?” With that, Logan picked up his laser gun and disappeared into the arena. 

 

A minute later, Patton was taken into the lobby, and Virgil hurried upstairs to the control room. 

 

He was in the eye of a hurricane, and all he could do now was sit in safety while the arcade crumbled before him. 

 

~~~

 

“Please make your way to the center of the arena, Patton.” Virgil’s voice was monotonous on the speakers. Patton followed the directions, coming face to face with Logan. 

 

“Virgil? What’s going on? Logan?” Patton’s eyes darted everywhere. “Why are the lights on? Where are the others?” 

 

Logan stood there patiently, waiting for the other man to realize. Once Patton did, Logan tried to ignore the tugging that he felt on his heart. 

 

“But I don’t have a problem with Logan.” Patton frowned. “Do I?” He looked at Logan, who was trying his best to keep a pained expression off of his face. “Tell me, Logan. Do you have a problem with me?” 

 

“Yes, Patton.” Logan’s voice almost sounded resigned to something Patton wasn’t allowed to see.

 

“Oh.” Patton’s eyes lowered to the ground. “That’s why we’re here.” 

 

“Patton, why didn’t you tell us about Emile?” 

 

“I didn’t want you to worry.” 

 

“I-  _ We _ are worried.” Logan said softly. Everything became soft. “Patton, you keep this arcade running with your spirit. You care for all of the kids, all of us. So tell me one thing...” The other man’s eyes flickered up to meet his. “If you’re taking care of everyone, who’s taking care of you?” 

 

“I… Um, I need to go and- and uh.” Patton mumbled, starting to head out. 

 

“Patton.” Logan said, reaching out but staying in place. Patton stopped in his tracks, and when Logan stepped closer, he saw that the other man’s shoulders were shaking. 

 

“It’s okay to ask for help. You can’t always carry everyone’s burdens and be happy.” Logan’s voice was close to a whisper now, but he tried not to go into Patton’s personal space as much as possible. 

 

“Even superheroes need rest.” Logan’s shoulders slumped, but before he could turn to leave, Patton darted towards him, clutching the fabric of Logan’s shirt in his fists. He held onto Logan as if he was for dear life. 

 

“I’m sorry.” Patton stammered out between quiet sobs. “I didn’t mean to hide it all. It just  _ happened, _ and I didn’t mean for you to get involved and-” 

 

“Patton, you have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should be apologizing for not noticing sooner.” Logan hesitantly wrapped his arms around the other man, blushing a little as Patton tugged him closer. 

 

“You can talk to me if you need help, and I’ll do my best to listen. I’m not a professional, but for small things, I can be there.” Logan promised. 

 

Upstairs, Virgil watched the two with a smile, wondering if they’d ever realize how much they cared for each other. 

 


	20. 10.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ok you know that one spongebob episode where it looks into his brain and there are a bunch of mini spongebobs running around his head screaming and setting shit on fire yeah that’s them in this chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers!
> 
> Once again, I do not have a note prepared because I'm stupid... whoops. 
> 
> IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: starting THIS Sunday, we will be updating ONCE A WEEK from now on. Clam and I are both starting school this week meaning that we will have significantly less time to get these chapters out. So surprise, you get three updates this week! 
> 
> The next chapter will be INCREDIBLY SHORT. around 300 words.
> 
> Fun fact of this chapter: I laughed at my own writing several times. 
> 
> Thank you to Clam for beta-reading, comment goal is 10, and if you make anything based on this fic, use #mindpalacearcadefic on tumblr to show us! 
> 
> Nox

Thomas whistled to himself as he wandered around the arcade, his hands in his pockets. Today was a good day, and nothing could ruin his mood. 

 

At least, that’s what he thought.

 

“I can take that for you.” Remy said from the coin counter, taking an envelope from the local mailman. “Have a nice day!”

 

“What was that about?” Thomas asked as Remy practically shoved the envelope into his hands. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that polite.”    
  
Remy snorted. “If that’s a surprise, then good luck, boss.” He patted Thomas’s shoulder before turning to a new customer. 

 

Thomas glanced down at the envelope in his hands. He flipped it around to reveal the sender. 

 

“Uh-oh.” 

 

_ Louis Samuels _

_ City Inspection Office _

 

Quickly, Thomas ducked into the spare office and tore open the envelope. His eyes frantically scanned the words on the letter, panic increasing with every line. 

 

_ To the staff of The Mind Palace Arcade, _

 

_ I will be conducting a health and safety inspection on July 10th. This yearly check is required for all buildings in the city. Please do not be alarmed, and please do not try to change the results of the inspection. I trust you are following all of the health codes if you refrain from both activities.  _

 

_ The inspection will begin promptly at 10:00 AM. The codes are included in the envelope. _

 

_ Sincerely, _

 

_ Louis J. Samuels _

_ Health Inspector _

 

Thomas stared down at the paper for what felt like forever. The first time the place had been inspected, they’d passed the same week they were decorating the arcade. This time, however, Thomas was unsure, given his employees’...  _ eclectic _ and  _ spontaneous _ personalities. 

 

“There you are, Thomas, I’ve been looking for you.” Logan said, walking into the office. “I wanted to talk to you about-” 

 

“The inspector is coming next week.” Thomas sighed, handing Logan the letter. “It was easy when it was just the two of us but now, I’m not sure if we can do this.” 

 

Logan’s eyebrows furrowed as he read. “These letters are getting shorter and shorter, I swear-” 

 

“Logan.” 

 

“Right, well, we have the week to prepare, don’t we?” Logan said, using one hand to adjust his glasses. “Surely that’s enough time to be more than ready when the inspector comes.”

 

“And if we don’t pass?” 

 

Logan peered at Thomas over his glasses. “We’ll pass.” 

 

~~~

 

“Good morning everyone. Normally these meetings aren’t necessary, but we received some news this week.” Thomas started awkwardly, putting a hand on the back of his neck. “They’re doing a health and safety inspection next Tuesday. Of course, you don’t have to be here, seeing as it’s your day off, but if Logan and I seem… a little more on edge, it’s because of that.” 

 

“I hate to be that guy, but what if the inspection goes bad?” Virgil asked, his gaze switching back and forth from Thomas to Logan. He couldn’t lose the arcade. None of them could. 

 

“Well, the list of requirements isn’t too long..” Logan said, trying to dodge the question. He’d thought about that, enough to start extensive research at 2 AM the night before. Somehow, he was running on a half hour of sleep.

 

“Logan.” Virgil said, corralling him. “Tell us.” 

 

“The arcade may have to -  _ temporarily _ , of course - close. Temporarily.” Logan said. “We don’t appear to be inadequate when it comes to the major violations, but that doesn’t keep us out of the woods just yet.” 

 

The others glanced at each other worriedly, but Logan tried to ignore them. “Anyways, we just wanted to warn you. The arcade opens in 20 minutes!” 

 

“Ooh! Logan, can we run simulations?” Roman suggested. 

 

“With… all of us?” Logan asked warily. Laser tag was bad enough when it came to simulations; one time Roman somehow got everyone to pretend to be assassins (which resulted in the most dramatic “death scene” put on by Patton and Roman that Logan had ever witnessed). 

 

“Yes! I can be the inspector, and-” 

 

“Princey, this isn’t pretend, it’s an  _ inspection.” _ Virgil retorted, but before he could throw out another insult, Thomas was nodding with Logan. 

 

“We can do a trial run the day before, in the morning before the arcade opens! This’ll be amazing!” Roman clapped his hands together while Virgil, Dylan, and Remy exchanged doubtful looks. 

 

“Right.” Remy said unconvincingly, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “Terrific. Amazing.” 

 

~~~

 

The next Monday, Roman walked in with a dramatic flair, flinging the double doors open with so much force that Virgil was surprised they didn’t fall off. Unfortunately, the momentum caused the doors to bounce off the walls they were connected to and slam shut in Romans face. He recovered by dramatically opening one door while holding the handle, barely miffed. “Hello, I’m Mr. Inspector. It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Sanders and Mr. Sax.” His voice had an accent that Virgil couldn’t name; although, it was incredibly ridiculous. It almost reminded Virgil of Grim from  _ Billy and Mandy. _

 

“Princey, what the actual fuck?” Virgil asked, looking at Roman up and down. “Is that an  _ Inspector Gadget _ cosplay?”

 

“Excuse me, I am Mr. Inspector and you will regard me as such!” At this point, no one knew if Logan was amused, angry, or just plain irritated. His mouth was drawn in a thin line as he watched Roman’s dramatics, while Thomas tried not to laugh. 

 

“Now, are all employees present?” Roman looked around, and so did the others. To their surprise, Patton was seemingly missing. 

 

“That’s one violation! Where is he?” 

 

“Sorry doc, I know it’s a hard pill to swallow, but I’m not sure  _ Watson _ you’re talking about!” Patton reappeared, donning a cap and a cardigan. Logan looked as if he was going to collapse right then and there (Thomas wasn’t sure if it was because Patton was cosplaying as a character from Logan’s favorite book series or if it was because he was absolutely done with his employees). 

 

(He decided on the second one.)

 

“Patton Watson, at your service.” Patton bowed. “Chief detective-” 

 

“Patton, this is an  _ arcade, _ not an agency.” Dylan said as Remy was trying (and failing) to cover up the giggles coming from his mouth. 

 

The simulation didn’t last long, mainly due to the fact that, at some point, Logan disappeared into his office and refused to come out until opening. When Thomas finally caught him off guard about that morning, Logan huffed, “That was certainly an effective use of our time.”

 

Of course, things didn’t help Logan’s patience one bit when he found out that Remy and Dylan had recorded footage from the security cameras of the incident and were organizing a “watching party” at the end of the day. Begrudgingly, Logan sat and watched the clip as his coworkers howled with laughter around him. 

 

He could insist he didn’t enjoy the incident or the watching party for the rest of his life. 

 

Or he could admit that the situation was as hilarious as it was ridiculous. 

 

He decided against both. 


	21. 10.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> really short whoops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the first Sunday update! As mentioned in the last chapter, we will be doing once a week Sunday updates until Clam and I stock up enough chapters to do twice a week again. Fun fact about this chapter, it is the shortest one we've ever put out! That's mainly because we've updated twice already this week so this is something to tide you over until we reach next sunday. 
> 
> Thank you to Clam and everything they've done for me for the sake of this fic! Please don't forget to kudos, comment, and reblog on Tumblr, and tag us in anything you create using the tag #mindpalacearcadefic! Our comment goal this week is ten! 
> 
> Nox

“Is this okay?” Thomas asked for the fifth time that morning. Logan sat on Thomas’s bed, looking up from his book. 

 

“Thomas, you’re wearing a polo shirt and a tie. Just wear what you always wear.”

 

“I can’t wear a t-shirt!” 

 

“Okay, then lose the tie or get a button up shirt and lose the tie. Either way, don’t wear a tie. The arcade isn’t a semi-formal Italian restaurant.” 

 

A minute later, Logan heard Thomas whine something incomprehensible. “What?” He asked, without looking up from the book. 

 

“I don’t know what shoes to wear!”

 

Logan peered at Thomas above his book. “Honestly, how are you an adult?” 

 

“Logan, you know this! I’m not!” Thomas cried out dramatically, a panicked expression on his face.

 

If the employees of the arcade weren’t the death of Logan already, Thomas was. 

 

~~~

 

As promised, the inspector arrived promptly at 10:00 AM that morning. His button up was slightly wrinkled, and the sleeves were rolled to his elbows. (Logan would gloat about that little fact later, but not now.)

 

“Hi, I’m Louis Samuels. You must be Thomas and Logan.” The inspector said, holding up his certification. 

 

“Yes, sir.” Logan responded, caught off guard when the inspector merely laughed. 

 

“No need for formalities. From what I heard from my colleague, you two passed with flying colors last time. I’m sure this won’t take long.” 

 

Slowly and carefully, Thomas and Logan guided the inspector through the arcade. 

 

“Normally, the ticket counter’s pretty busy, but since you came on the day we’re closed, it’s, um… not.” Thomas rambled nervously, waving his hands around. Louis only smiled at this before asking to proceed to the next area. 

 

“Well, this was very impressive. There’s one or two minor violations, so I’ll be back in a month to check up on the progress of them.” Louis gave them another smile. “I’m sure all of the kids would cause a riot if this place was closed because of a few violations. Especially during summer. Have a nice day!” 

 

With that, the inspector disappeared into the humid Florida morning, leaving only the inspection paper as proof that he’d been inside. 

 

“Correct me if I’m wrong: we went through the entire, ridiculous quote unquote “simulation” yesterday, and despite that, everything was fine?” Logan asked, dumbstruck. 

 

“Yep.” 

 

“He barely glanced at each room.”

 

“Yep.”

 


	22. 11.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Emile becomes part of the arcade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody!
> 
> I gotta say, it's weird updating only once a week. But if this past week has been any indication, I think it's for the best for now. I have a lot going on, and I bet Clam does too! 
> 
> Fun fact about this chapter: I had to look up the spongebob theme lyrics because one of them I couldn't remember correctly!
> 
> SEMI-IMPORTANT NEWS:
> 
> Coming soon are the Mind Palace Ficlets! There are some moments that Clam and I have that we couldn't work into the story for whatever logistic reason, so we've opted to make it a little spin off series. It won't be on this fic, but it will be in it's own collection on this account. We're really excited to start releasing these because then you all have more content! These ficlets may be mainly written by Clam (although I'm doing editing, so things might look the same, haha), and I can't wait to share with you what we've been doing behind the scenes!
> 
> As always, make sure to comment because our goal is ten, and if you have any artwork/ficlets based off of this fic, please tag it with #mindpalacearcadefic on tumblr! Happy reading!
> 
> Nox

The rest of the month flew by, and, out of sheer boredom, Emile started to come to the arcade more often. 

 

It started as visits to bring Patton his lunch (somehow the poor man forgot it at least twice a week), and then it spiraled into coming even if Patton had remembered his lunch.

 

Three visits a week turned into nearly every day the arcade was open. Emile found that he got along with Remy the best, the two running to Starbucks during Remy’s breaks. When Remy wasn’t there, Emile went to Roman, both trying to watch guard for the arcade. (They often ended up distracting each other with discussions of animation styles and how they impacted the narrative, themes, and personalities). 

 

For the most part, Emile seemed to cling to at least one of the staff members out of habit. He wasn’t too interested in video games, though he’d happily talk anybody’s ear off when it came to animation and character design. They always stayed patient with him, asking questions during long pauses. 

 

One Tuesday, while Patton was helping out with a new shipment of toys for the claw machines and prize counter, Logan cleared his throat. 

 

“Patton, do you think Emile would...  _ benefit _ from working here?” Logan asked slowly, cautiously looking at Patton’s face. The younger man paused his movements, thinking for a moment. 

 

“He does need the work experience, and he’s practically an employee anyways.” Patton said, a lightbulb slowly switching on in his head. “I mean, there’s the fact that he’s here every open hour. He even started asking to come with me in the mornings when I need to open up.” 

 

“Would you be okay with Emile working here?” Logan asked. “I know it’s one thing to have your brother hang out where you work, but it’s another to work alongside him.” 

 

Patton shrugged, starting to sort the toys again. “I actually wouldn’t mind. It’s not like he’ll be with me 24/7. Besides, maybe he could make some friends here. It hasn’t been easy for him since we moved from my parents. He might enjoy having his own spending money.” 

 

Logan paused, his head perking up. Patton didn’t mention his parents too often, but when he did let it slip, Logan made sure to make note of the things he said. He knew it would be better to just wait until Patton was ready to fully open up, but the clues sent Logan’s detective mind whirring. 

 

“But he seems so talkative here.” 

 

“I talk so much about the arcade, I think he felt like he knew you all already by the time you met. But in school…” Patton set another toy on a a hook. “You know how it is. High school’s rough, and if you don’t have a group from the get go, you kind of have to float until something opens up.”    
  


“I… actually didn’t socialize too often then, either. I think my head was always stuck in a book, or I was fine with having Thomas as my only friend.” Logan paused for a moment, and then spoke again. “Do you think - all of us here - do you think we’d be friends if we were still in high school?” 

 

“I try not to go into ‘What-if’s’. But I don’t know. We’re all here because of the arcade, right? And we stayed because of each other. Maybe it would be the same way in school.” 

 

“Maybe.”

 

~~~

 

Logan approached Emile the next morning, the application in his hand. The arcade was opening in a few minutes, but for now, things were quiet. “Emile, would you like to work here?”

 

“Um, what?” Emile asked, trying to wrap his head around Logan’s words. 

 

“You’d be like Remy, doing tasks as needed, and the job would be part-time once school begins again. You’ll need to get a work permit-” 

 

“Hold on. You’re offering me a job?” 

 

“Yes.” 

 

“Did Patton put you up to this?” The younger Picani asked. “Please tell me my older brother didn’t put you up to this.” 

 

“He didn’t put me up to this, it was my idea.” 

 

“So you’re offering me a job.”

 

“Precisely.” 

 

“Like a money-making, paying job?”

 

Logan nodded and a second later, Logan felt as if he were being thrown back. He wasn’t alone, though - one Emile Picani was clinging to him, arms wrapped around him tightly. Logan managed to stabilize himself before they crashed into one of the machines, but tried not to pull away too quickly. He knew by now that while both Picanis loved giving hugs, they weren’t something to take lightly. As Virgil had described it, “sometimes it’s an emotion overload, and they’re trying to say how they feel without putting it into words.”

 

“Thank you.” Emile mumbled, his voice muffled by Logan’s shirt. “I promise you won’t regret this.” 

 

Emile’s application was sped up for obvious (and not-so-obvious) reasons, and a few days later, he was attaching a name tag to his shirt for his first day of work. 

 

His first day landed on a staff development day, a genuine shock for the others. 

 

“Hey, kid!” Remy waved as he walked in, spotting the name tag almost immediately. “Welcome to the team.” The older man slung an arm around Emile’s shoulders. “I hear you’re working with me.” 

  
“Easy, Remy, it’s his first day.” Dylan warned, crossing his arms and lightly leaning against one of the machines. “Don’t be afraid to come to the back if you need to get away from all the noise.”

 

“Or the arena. It’s pretty funny watching people play laser tag.” Virgil shrugged nonchalantly. “Speaking of the arena…” 

 

“Initiation time!” Roman cheered, while Virgil sent him a mildly annoyed look. 

 

The staff split into teams of two. This round, Emile was surrounded by the best: Logan, Virgil, and Dylan.

 

“Suit up, you’re running with the wild things now.” Virgil gave Emile a bump on the shoulder and a wink before disappearing into the arena. 

 

“I thought Roman was the dramatic one?”

 

“No, they both are.” Logan sighed while Emile laughed at his new boss’s exasperation. 

 

~~~

 

“We need to lure them out.” Virgil hissed to the others. There was an ambush planned, but the other team stayed in their safety zone. 

 

“I have an idea. Watch my back.” Emile grinned. 

 

In his best pirate voice, he called out, “ARE YA READY KIDS?” 

 

Patton’s guard went down, as he shouted back, “AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!” 

 

Emile winked at the others before running off, zig-zagging through the arena. He knew it almost as well as Virgil and Logan at this point. “I CAN’T HEAR YOU~!” He yelled from another spot, further from the opposing team’s safety zone. 

 

“AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!”

 

“Patton, no!” Roman and Thomas screamed as Patton raced off, following Emile’s voice. They followed, chasing after the older Picani. 

 

“OH~!”

 

“Oh my god.” Dylan mumbled. “The kid’s a genius.” 

 

“WHO LIVES IN A PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA?” Emile’s voice was even farther now, but still loud enough for the others to chase after him. 

 

“SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!” Patton shouted, half-skipping and half-running after Emile. 

 

“ABSORBENT AND YELLOW AND POROUS IS HE~!” 

 

“SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!”

 

“Now!” Virgil said, and Roman, Thomas, and Patton were shot by the lasers as they ran past. 

 

Emile rendezvoused with them a few minutes later. 

 

They waited on Remy, who was remaining only because he had stayed in the safe zone the entire time. Eventually, he looked around, sighed, and took one step out of the area. 

 

“Hit me with your best shot, kid.” 

 

“You’re not even moving!” 

 

“Just do it.” 


	23. 12.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i'm just giving the people what they want

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, okay hi everyone! This week has been so freaking long!   
> Another SEMI-IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: We actually have a ficlet series now! It's led by Clam (they're writing the bulk of it) but it'll still be on my ao3 since it's the one associated with this fic. It's all of the little moments/scenes/chapters we couldn't fit in the story because of logistical purposes, so go over there and show the newest one some love! We're not going to have an upload schedule but when we come out with them they will always be uploaded on Wednesday. The one we just posted is supposed to be in between the last chapter and this one. Of course, you don't need to read them to understand what's going on in this fic, but if you want more content, we have it!   
> You all know the drill, I don't want to make this any longer so I'll see you soon!  
> \- Nox

One day, after school, Emile burst into Logan’s office, his school bag still slung over his left shoulder. He panted slightly - the run over was longer than he had wanted it to be.

 

“Logan, I’m so sorry I’m late, I had tutoring and I texted you but it didn’t say you read it, and-“ 

 

Logan held up a hand. “You said you’re doing tutoring now?” 

 

“Yeah, it’s for my psych 101, we’re having weekly quizzes, and I’m not great at studying myself so..” Emile shrugged half heartedly. 

 

“I could tutor you, if you would like. No charge.” Logan suggested, and Emile’s eyes widened. He nodded eagerly. “Do Thursday evenings work?” More exaggerated nodding. 

 

If Logan came over more often, maybe Patton could muster up the courage to tell him…

 

Okay, so  _ maybe _ Emile’s trying to set up his brother with his boss. So what? They’re cute together. Sue him.

 

“Thank you, Logan!” The younger Picani ran out without another word, his bag banging against the metal doorframe in his rush. Logan watched with a small smile, wondering if Patton was just as clumsy as Emile when he was in high school.

 

Paperwork was his focus for the next few hours, but once the arcade closed, Patton and Emile appeared in Logan’s office. Emile bounced on his heels giddily while Patton seemed to be giving Logan a sheepish look.

 

“So, Emile said you’re tutoring him now?” Patton said, adjusting the strap of his messenger bag on his shoulder. “Did he ask?” Patton shot Emile a sideways glance, wary of his little brother’s intentions. 

 

“He informed me he was having trouble in psychology class. I offered to tutor him, considering my first major in college was behavioral psychology. Thursday evenings. Is that alright with you?” 

 

“As long as it doesn’t get in the way of your personal life-” 

 

“Yes, it’s fine!” Emile answered, and Logan fought back a laugh, disguising it with a cough instead.

 

With that, the arrangement was set, and that Thursday evening, Logan appeared at the Picanis’ door. 

 

Why was he,  _ Logan Sax _ , so nervous? This wasn’t a job interview or, god forbid,  _ a date. _ And yet, there was a fluttering sensation in his stomach, similar to what people like Roman referred to as ‘butterflies’. In the middle of Logan’s internal monologuing, the door swung open to reveal Emile.

 

“Hi Logan!” Emile said, as if he hadn’t seen his boss less than an hour ago at the end of work. “Come on, Patton’s in the kitchen making dinner.” 

 

Emile practically pulled Logan inside the apartment, guiding the older man into a small kitchen. The dining table was neatly tucked into a corner, covered by Emile’s open psychology textbook and notes. Patton stood at the other end of the kitchen, flipping through a recipe book. 

 

“Hey, kiddo, how do you feel about salmon for dinner?” He asked, pausing on a page. 

 

“Good!” Emile called back as Logan sat down at the table, skimming through Emile’s notes. 

 

“Alright, so how does the teacher grade you in this class?” 

 

“Eighty percent homework, twenty percent assessments. We have this final at the end of term that’s supposed to cover everything.” Logan hummed as he looked at the notes more thoroughly. 

 

“And what’s causing you the most trouble?” 

 

“The definitions, and the different psychologists. I mean, the definitions should be easy, right? But they go in one ear and out the other.” Emile groaned. As Logan flipped through the notes, he saw that Emile had written down mostly definitions. 

 

“Normally, I’m rather averse to flash cards, but I think they’ll help this time. Luckily, I brought some blank ones and an organizer.” Logan dug around in his bag and held them up. “So, what we’re going to do every week is make these flash cards, and slowly build up, to make sure you retain the information for longer than a week.” Logan said. “My job is to help you develop good study habits so that by the time you go off to college, you’re self-sustainable.” 

 

“Sounds good.” 

 

“And you can ask for help in any of your other classes too, and I’ll do my best to help you understand the content. I know the education system is… not exactly working at optimum quality.” 

 

The two spent the next hour making the flash cards and quizzing each other. Patton listened and stayed quiet for the most part as he prepared dinner, pan frying the salmon. It was good that Logan was here now, but what about the long term? What if Logan got too close and-

 

The two were bound to get close anyways. Maybe if Patton wasn’t so tired at the end of the day, he could help Emile instead of Logan. That way, he wouldn’t get so close…

 

That way, Emile wouldn’t get his heart broken when Logan- 

 

When Logan  _ left.  _

 

The rest of the prep kept Patton out of his thoughts, and before he knew it, he was flipping the salmon in the pan. 

 

The timer and the end of Logan’s tutoring synced up perfectly. Logan looked at his watch. “I think that’s my cue.” He said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “We can continue next week. Let me know how your test goes after school tomorrow.” 

 

“Can you stay for dinner?” Emile asked, cleaning his study materials up. “Please?” 

 

Patton’s eyes widened as Logan laughed. “Well, that’s really up to Patton. Besides, I wouldn’t want to impose.” 

 

“Maybe next week, when things are a little more planned.” Patton suggested sternly. “Emile, can you set the table while I walk Logan out?” Emile eagerly nodded, moving to get to the cabinets. 

 

Patton led Logan out into the hallway of the floor, holding the door shut behind him. 

 

“Thanks for helping him, with homework and everything. He’s been a little stressed since we started the college applications.” 

 

“How are you doing?” Logan asked in a quiet voice, and Patton laughed, trying to play it off. 

 

“I’m fine, Logan, don’t worry about me.” 

 

“It’s not such a bad thing to ask for help, Patton.” 

 

“I’m okay right now.” 

 

There was a beat of silence. Logan wasn’t sure if he should press the matter, but he let it go after realizing he wouldn’t get much out of Patton; at least, not tonight. 

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Good night, Patton.” 

 

“Good night, Logan.” 

 


	24. 13.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i love the picani brothers that is all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! It feels like forever since the last update :( I'm actually considering updating more frequently again once I'm finished with applications (mid-October, hopefully). 
> 
> Fun fact of the chapter: This was one of the earliest chapters we had planned. I'm so glad we kept it. 
> 
> You all know the drill! Kudos, comment, share!
> 
> Nox

“Thomas.” Logan said one morning, pulling his co-manager inside his office. He paused outside the door, quickly checking up and down the hallway before ducking inside and locking the door. “Look at these numbers from September. These are the lowest they’ve been since we’ve opened.” He gestured to his computer, where a multitude of spreadsheets and charts littered the screen (Thomas, ever popular among the youth, thought that only someone with “big brain energy” could understand it all). 

 

“What does that mean?” Thomas asked, looking up from the computer to his friend. “It’s one month, it’s not like-” 

 

“If this keeps happening, we may need to lay off people, or shut down the arcade-” 

 

“No.” Thomas frowned. “We’re not doing either of those things.” 

 

“Well, we need to do  _ something-” _

 

“I’ll figure it out.” Thomas mumbled, rubbing his eyes with one hand. “ _ We’ll _ figure it out. Just give me some time, please.” 

 

“Of course.” Logan said grimly, watching as Thomas left the office with his head down. 

 

By the time Emile arrived that afternoon, the arcade was less busy than usual, for a Friday afternoon, at least. He felt as if he could count the number of visitors on one hand. He did, and he could.

 

“Hey, Thomas? Why’s the arcade so quiet today?” Emile asked, setting his bag down under the coin counter. “I think this is the first time it’s kind of quiet here.” 

 

“It isn’t the first.” Thomas sighed. “Maybe the contractors were right, there’s no way an arcade like this could last for more than three years.” 

 

“Have less people been coming?” 

 

“A significant amount since summer. I don’t know why.” Thomas shrugged. “Logan and  I are trying to come up with a way to keep things afloat.” 

 

As Emile left the counter, he started to brainstorm in his head. None of them could afford to lose the arcade. What could they do, though? Video games were everywhere. Most people owned consoles themselves, so they stayed at home. If you had one, you’d use it. 

 

“What’s on your mind today, kiddo?” Patton asked on the drive home. Emile had been surprisingly very quiet all afternoon. While he laughed at a few of Patton’s jokes, he seemed to want to keep to himself. 

  
“Trying to figure out how to save - I mean,  _ help _ \- the arcade.” 

 

“Any ideas yet?” Patton said, glancing over at his younger brother with a soft smile. Just like Patton, Emile loved helping people out. Both of them were practically selfless. 

 

Emile was quiet for a moment. But then, as if a light bulb was turning on- 

 

“I think I just got one.”    
  
~~~

 

Dylan, already sitting at the security cameras for the morning, did a double take while looking at the front entrance. There, in a suit and tie, holding a - was that a toy  _ briefcase? _ \- and his hair styled neatly, was  _ Emile. _ There might have been a bit too much hair gel, but hey, Dylan wasn’t one to judge too harshly.

 

He watched as the youngest employee of the arcade practically dragged Logan and Thomas into the breakdown closet (which, had somehow been changed to resemble that of a cramped meeting room for the day) and pull out a series of poster boards. 

 

Patton flashed Emile a thumbs up before closing the door of the closet and adjusting the sign to “Occupied”. 

 

“Good morning, everyone.” Emile said, with a wave. Logan flashed Thomas a tired look and settled in his seat. 

 

“Emile, we’re the only ones in here.” Logan said. “What’s going on?” 

 

“So I spent last night thinking about your problem of low attendance in the arcade.” 

  
From the cameras, Dylan watched as Logan’s tired expression turned into one of alarm. “You  _ told _ him?” He exclaimed, looking at Thomas for an explanation. 

 

“It was an accident! He was just…   _ there!” _ Thomas sputtered, while Emile calmly waited for them to finish. 

 

“I have an explanation for the decrease in attendance.” Emile pulled one of the poster boards off the holder to reveal another one. “Reason number one: it isn’t summer. School is in session, so it makes sense for the kids. But that doesn’t exactly explain the lack of attendance on weekends.” 

 

He pulled another poster board off. “Our problem, and every arcade’s problem, is home gaming systems. Why go outside to play video games when it’s right there in your house? Why come here to play old, pixelated arcade machines? It’s a pricey hobby, too.” 

 

“So I have two solutions.” Another posterboard dropped to the ground. “One: we start a membership system. For every 10 times you come into the arcade, you get a free bag of 20 tokens. That’s twenty free gameplays. I checked with Remy, we have a surplus of tokens.”

 

Thomas nodded along while Logan leaned back in his seat, looking like a corporate executive as he did so. 

 

“The second solution is VR headsets. They’re the hottest new console in gaming right now, but the pricing of video games is going up, more than most teenagers can afford. If we invest in VR, more kids will come to play. That was the whole idea of arcades in the beginning: play the games you can’t get at home.” Emile explained and dropped another poster board, revealing a detailed pie chart. “I surveyed a group of my classmates, and they said that if we had those consoles, attendance would rise again.” 

 

“How would we regulate the VR, though?” Logan mused. “That isn’t easy.” 

 

“Two dollars for ten tokens. Ten tokens for 20 minutes on the console. We set up a timer. I haven’t figured out all of the logistics, but I believe that this will work.” Emile said. 

 

“And if it doesn’t?” Logan asked. “We can’t afford to take the risk.” 

 

“We do a test run, then. Two weeks. If attendance is up, then we keep it, if not, we sell them on eBay or something. We could be ahead of the curve here, if you take this chance. The school blog could write about it and there would be an increase in customers, from my school, at least.” Emile said. 

 

There was silence for a few moments before Logan leaned forward. “Well, clearly, you’ve thought this out.” He said. “There’s no denying that. You could have a future in business, but I doubt that’s where you want to go.” Logan complimented. “We’ll think it over, and we’ll-” 

 

“Oh my  _ gosh, _ Emile! That was amazing and professional and I’m so proud of you!” Thomas said, rushing to hug the boy. “Logan always says he’ll think about it, but I think he’s going to say yes to this one.” 

 

“Thomas, I said I’ll  _ think _ about it-” 

 

“Come  _ on, _ Logan! It was brilliant!” 

 

“I have to admit, it was very succinct and persuasive.” Logan chose his words carefully. “I’ll let you know tomorrow what the decision is.” 

 

The next morning, Logan handed Emile a slip of paper with a smile on his face. “I think you’ll be happy to know that this is the receipt of the new headsets. We’re going to start making space for them next week.” 

 

“Thank you, Logan! I won’t let you down, I promise!” Emile hugged his boss tightly. 

 

~~~

 

“You should be proud of him.” Logan’s voice startled Patton as he watched Emile chatting excitedly with Roman and Remy. “He pulled off a stunning business proposal yesterday.” 

 

“He’s my little brother.” Patton said, cheeks tinted pink from Logan being so close. “I’m always proud.” 


	25. 14.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prince Roman. 
> 
> It really did suit him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> this week's update is late because I've been so busy today so the notes will be short! If you haven't checked out August yet I'd highly recommend you do - it's a spinoff including Remy and Emile and it was written by my co-writer/beta reader Clam! It's amazing and I love it so much. 
> 
> Fun fact about this chapter: it wasn't really planned. I just wanted to focus on Dylan and Roman because a lot of the story is logicality centric lately and I thought we needed a change. 
> 
> Y'all know the drill! Happy reading!
> 
> \- Nox

“What the…” Dylan mumbled as he zoomed in on one camera. Quickly, he scooped up his walkie-talkie and pressed a button. “Hey, Ro, we got an issue. Closet A. Two teenagers, uh… Er, you know what’s happening in there. Code pink. Take care of that, won’t you?” 

 

Dylan made a mental note to himself to talk to Logan about locking the closets. At least the teenagers were wise enough not to do it out in the open, but the arcade was a family place. Unfortunately, this was a weekly occurrence. 

 

A minute later, Roman burst into the camera’s view. “Come on, guys, how many times do we have to tell you that this place is family friendly? Either play a game or go home, please.” Roman groaned, ushering the two out. “What happened to, I don’t know,  _ not  _ making out in public?”

 

On the floor, Remy laughed as Roman escorted the two teens outside. A kid approached the counter, and Remy leaned on it. “Hey, if you can beat my high score on Jump It, I’ll get you 100 tickets.” The kid, who wasn’t older than 15, nodded, racing off with his tokens in his hands. 

 

Dylan laughed at this. Remy had a very high score on that game, to the point where kids had figured it impossible to beat him. Luckily, he gave anyone who tried it 5 tickets for their efforts. 

 

He switched cameras to the breakdown closet, which, thankfully, had a lock. No one had been in there for weeks, aside from Emile’s presentation a few days ago. That meant that Virgil was doing well here. Dylan had been a little worried when he had first been hired that things would be difficult for his former roommate, but most everything was fine now. It almost felt the same way it had during their college years. 

 

Another camera switch. He zoomed in, then picked up his walkie-talkie again. 

 

“Hey, Ro? We got a situation. Code Blue.”

 

~~~

 

The little kids called him Prince Roman. Maybe it was because of the inflatable sword Virgil had insisted he’d strap onto his belt, or the uniform itself. He kept adding to it after the first day, turning it into an all out cosplay at this point. Old pieces of tinsel morphed into golden embroidery that he’d painstakingly sewn on by hand.

 

“Hey, Ro? We got a situation. Code Blue.” Dylan’s voice called out from his walkie-talkie. “Retro Road, there’s a little boy who lost his parents. The parents just alerted Patton and are waiting at the prize counter, and Logan’s trying to calm them down right now.” 

 

“What’s the name?” 

 

“Give me a sec…” Dylan said, turning on the mic of the camera to listen in. “Leo. Should be in a red t-shirt and shorts. Seven years old.” 

 

“On it.” Roman mumbled, heading down to the east side of the arcade. 

 

Thomas had given every walkway of the arcade a street name, in order to keep things organized and to help Roman out. Retro Road was where all of the classic video games were: Donkey Kong, Super Mario, Pac-Man, Galaga. Parents and teenagers alike frequented the area, despite the fact that none of the games produced tickets for the prize counter. 

 

He spotted a little boy in the middle of the aisle, sitting with his knees to his chest. The boy looked terrified, and Roman couldn’t blame him. The game machines here had voices that would occasionally go off when the game was idle, and that probably scared Leo more than it would with the older kids. 

 

“Hello.” Roman said, approaching slowly and kneeling down in front of the boy. “My name is Prince Roman. Are you Leo?” 

 

Leo looked at him with cautious, watery eyes. “My mommy says I’m not allowed to tell my name to strangers.” 

 

“Okay. Is it okay if I take you to your mommy and daddy?” He asked gently, giving the boy a little space. 

 

“My mommy says I’m not allowed to go with strangers.” Leo insisted, and Roman pressed his lips together. 

 

“Hmm. Okay, one of the members of my court will get your parents. Fear not, Prince Leo. I will keep you safe.” 

 

“Promise?” He said quietly. 

 

“I promise.” Roman whispered, linking his pinky with Leo’s. 

 

Meanwhile, Dylan took the hint and ran out of the security room briefly to tell Logan where Leo was. Quickly, Logan guided the boy’s parents through the maze of machines. 

 

“And I fought the dragon witch. She was very mean, but she’s gone now. I won the battle. And then I came here, to keep the arcade kingdom safe.” Roman could be heard telling his infamous story of the dragon witch to Leo, who was listening intently. 

 

“Leo!” His mother cried out, rushing forward. “Oh my goodness, we were so scared...”

 

“I was scared too. But Prince Roman says I’m brave too.” Leo said. “He says we both are brave.”    
  


“Thank you for finding our son.” Leo’s father said. 

 

“He’s a brave little prince.” Roman said, standing up and looking down at Leo with a smile. Then, he knelt down to meet Leo’s eyes again. 

 

“Be good, alright? Always stay with your parents. Their highnesses will keep you safe. You are welcome to visit me anytime, Prince Leo.” Leo nodded eagerly before the family walked off. 

 

The next week, a gold painted crown was placed in Roman’s work locker, decorated with rhinestones and glued on jewels.    
  
“Because every prince needs a crown.” Roman read the note under his breath. It wasn’t signed, but he put the crown on his head anyways. It fit, perfectly. 

 

Unbeknownst to Roman, Virgil was the one to place it in the guard’s locker. Dylan had excitedly recounted the whole story to Virgil the day after, which prompted the idea of the crown. It wasn’t too hard to break into Roman’s locker - his lock password was his birthday, for god’s sake - and Virgil had shoved it in earlier that morning, before Roman arrived. 

 

The next time he saw Roman, the guard was wearing it proudly. Remy joked that Roman was turning into the arcade’s mascot (which wasn’t exactly  _ wrong _ \- Remy had already made posters with Roman as the mascot for the Mind Palace). Dylan suggested replacing the inflatable sword with something that looked more realistic, while Thomas had to remind everyone that they were  _ still _ figuring out the general uniform.

 

And when he made sure Roman wasn’t looking, Virgil glanced over and grinned at the new addition to his uniform. 

 

Prince Roman. 

 

It really did suit him. 


	26. 15.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and we're back in the angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! We've been kind of MIA for a bit because of school, and as I'm typing this, I'm realizing that I should be eating breakfast before a 5 hour shift...
> 
> Nevertheless, here is this week's chapter! We're also going to be posting another ficlet this week so be on the lookout for that on Wednesday, Oct. 2nd! 
> 
> \- Nox

Game testing after hours was always interesting on Friday nights. 

 

Currently, the entire staff was spread out around the arcade, yelling taunts at each other. Even Dylan had been coaxed out of his little hiding spot, and was now playing Galaga with Virgil at his side. 

 

As usual, Logan stuck to skeeball, aiming with deadly precision. Patton, who had been with Thomas and Emile up until now, wandered over, watching as Logan rolled one of the rubber balls up the ramp and into the cup with the highest points. 

 

“Can I try?” Patton asked when Logan finished. Logan looked over at Patton with a smile. 

 

“Go ahead. Would you like a little competition?” He gestured to the machine next to the one he’d been using. “I should warn you, I’m pretty good.” 

 

“Sure!” Patton responded cheerfully, inserting one of his tokens into the machine. “What does the winner get?” 

 

“Bragging rights.” Logan shrugged, and Patton hummed in agreement. “Why don’t we do best of three?” 

 

“Deal!” 

 

The next hour flew by, with Patton insisting on doing a rematch every time he lost. Luckily, Thomas had agreed to take Emile back home, neither of them wanting to disrupt Logan and Patton’s competition. 

 

In the car, Emile directed Thomas softly as he drove. “Take a right up ahead.” Emile said, and silence filled the car shortly after. 

 

“Thank you for driving me home.” Emile said suddenly. “It’s just that Patton seemed so caught up in their game…” 

 

“I guess I’m not the only matchmaker in the arcade now.” Thomas chuckled, glancing over at the teenager in the passenger seat, who was sporting a guilty expression. “It’s alright, someone needs to push those two together anyways.” 

 

“Patton talked about Logan a lot before I started coming to the arcade. I think that was the first time I’ve ever heard Patton talk so much about anyone.” Emile said, resting his chin in his hands. “When I first saw them together, it kind of clicked. They’re good for each other.” 

 

“I heard Logan’s tutoring you now, too?” 

 

“Yeah. Well, it was his idea, but I think he did it to get closer to me and Patton.” Emile laughed a little at this. “I don’t mind. I like having him around.” 

 

“Not just because you want him to date Patton?” Thomas asked with a grin, and Emile shook his head. 

 

“No, but that is the main reason why I don’t mind having him around. He had dinner with us after tutoring once and helped clean up. He’s really nice. They’re happy together.” 

 

“I’m sensing a “but” here.” 

 

“But, I’m not sure Patton will take the risk. He thinks that I need him as much as I do when we were kids. Truth is, I’m fine on my own. I just don’t know if  _ he’s _ ready to be alone yet.” Emile stared out the window again, a far off look in his eyes. “Before the arcade, he was alone. I mean, he had friends, but he only saw them like, once a month. He’s spent his entire life taking care of me, even when we were with our parents.” 

 

“Do you still talk to your parents?” Thomas asked, trying not to push too much. Right now, Emile was an open book, but he could close any second. 

 

“I don’t even know where they are now. There’s an email every once in a while, maybe a package of old stuff they find when they move. No birthday calls or check ups. It’s just us. To me, it’s the way things have always been. Even when we were kids, we never had dinner together. Patton always hid me in his room when they were fighting.” In a quieter voice, “I don’t know if they ever really  _ cared _ about me.” 

 

“Well, parents aren’t…” Thomas hesitated, trying to find the right words to say. “Sometimes they’re not meant to be parents. Sometimes family doesn’t feel  _ like _ family, you know?” 

 

“Pull up here.” Emile said, pointing to an apartment building. Thomas followed the directions and parked the car, not quite unlocking the doors yet. 

 

“Sometimes blood isn’t thicker than water. And Emile, I hope you and Patton know that you have a family at the arcade. We’ll always listen, no matter the time or place.” He turned off the ignition. “Now come on, I’ll walk you inside.” 

 

~~~

 

“Alright, one more game, and then I should head home.” Patton said, checking the time. 9:30. The hours had flown by. “I don’t want to keep you from dinner.” 

 

“All or nothing?” Logan suggested, tossing a rubber ball up in the air and catching it with one hand. 

 

“All or nothing.” Patton dared, inserting his last token of the night. 

 

With sheer luck on his side, Patton won the game, and in doing so, won the entire tournament. 

 

“Did I…? I did it.” Patton said in awe.  _ “I beat Logan Sax!” _

 

Normally, Logan was a sore loser. But looking at Patton’s joyful face, he couldn’t bring himself to dampen the mood. “Good job, Patton.” He allowed himself to smile. It was impossible not to smile when Patton was beaming so brightly.

 

“Do you need a ride home? I know you carpool with Thomas, but he took Emile back to our apartment an hour ago.” 

 

“If it’s not inconvenient. Otherwise, I can call a ride-share-” 

 

“No, I’ll just give you a ride home.” Patton shrugged. “You want to lock up? I’ll wait outside.” 

 

“Y-yes. Of course.” At this point, Logan had grown accustomed to Patton’s kindness, but there were still moments where it took him by surprise. He scrambled to lock up, irrationally fearing that Patton would leave without him. 

 

“Uh… Logan, what about your bag? Y’know, with all of your stuff?” Patton asked Logan when the frazzled manager appeared at the entrance to the arcade. 

 

“Crap.” Logan mumbled, cheeks flushing. “I’m sorry, I’m not usually this disorganized-” He disappeared into the arcade again before he could finish his own sentence. Patton chuckled a little, sporting a similar flush on his cheeks. 

 

“Got everything?” Patton asked when Logan reappeared. The latter nodded, and together they set off to the parking lot, where Patton’s bright blue KIA remained. 

 

“Here, I plugged my address into maps already.” Logan said, handing his phone to Patton after they had slipped inside of the car. 

 

“Thanks.” Patton said, placing Logan’s phone in the center cup-holder. “You don’t have a car yourself?” He started the engine, easing out of the parking lot quickly but carefully. 

 

“I live close to the places I need to go to, and Thomas and I have shared a car since we graduated.” Logan shrugged. “I never understood the luxury of having a car, and I prefer to walk anyways.”  

 

“I just always had to because of Emile. This was the last thing my parents gave me before we moved out.” 

 

“Do you miss them? Your parents?” 

 

Patton hesitated, looking down at his hands on the steering wheel when they pulled up to a red traffic light. “Sometimes, I forget everything that they’ve done and I miss what I wanted them to be, when I was a kid. But,” He sighed, “I think it’s better for everyone if we just stayed away from each other.” 

 

“That bad?”

 

Patton nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Yeah.” He said, barely above a whisper. 

 

“I’m sorry, Patton.” Logan said minutes later, as they drove down the main street. 

 

“Don’t apologize.” Patton’s voice was soft, still a little tense. “You didn’t do anything. It’s not your fault.” 

 

“Arrived.” The phone’s automated voice rang out after they turned onto a side street. Patton double parked, handing the phone to Logan.

 

“See you tomorrow.” Patton said with a half-smile on his face. Logan was tempted to invite him in, to talk more, but he knew that Patton needed to go home. 

 

“Good night, Patton.” Logan said, sticking his head through the open window once he was out of the car. 

 

This time, Patton didn’t say it back. 


	27. 16.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'cause a halloween party's a bad excuse to put your body through mad abuse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual I am unprepared to write this. bUT- 
> 
> This chapter requires you all to read our ficlet called "August"! It's very very important for some context. 
> 
> Also we may be approaching a break, considering I am going insane with college apps and school. So, we're gonna have a Q+A next week instead of an actual chapter because I'm kind of dying here. 
> 
> Love you all!! Send in your questions for the Q+A!
> 
> \- Nox

October arrived faster than Virgil had anticipated. However, he was reminded what month it was when Patton and Emile skipped in one weekend morning, each carrying a large box filled to the brim with decorations. Virgil suddenly had flashbacks to Christmas.

 

“It’s spooky time!” Emile announced, setting his box on the prize counter. “Well, it’s technically been spooky time since June, but now it’s socially acceptable.” Emile added as an afterthought. 

 

“There’s no way we’re going to be able to hang all of this up before we open.” Dylan said, peering into the boxes. They looked heavy. 

 

“Patton, I thought we talked about decorations after what happened during Christmas…” Logan sighed, running a hand through his hair. As always, Patton hadn’t followed Logan’s rules, but everyone knew that Patton could never get Logan really angry. Upset, maybe, but not angry. 

 

Quite frankly, Patton was too sweet to be yelled at. 

 

“Then Emile and Remy will do it!” Patton clapped his hands together. “Or Emile and Thomas, ‘cause Remy is working the coin counter.” 

 

“Speaking of Halloween, I wanted to invite you all to my party. It’ll be the weekend before, but still Halloween themed.” Roman said, passing out invitations. 

 

Patton looked at his invitation. “Will there be drinking involved? I just don’t want to put Emile in any danger-” 

 

“I’m generally the sober one.” Virgil said. “He can stick with me.” 

 

“But-” 

 

“Patton, it’s okay.” Emile said with a reassuring smile. “I can stay home if you want me to, but I won’t try anything if I go. You know me better than that.” 

 

Patton pressed his lips together. “I’ll think about it.” He told Roman. “I think we’re supposed to open now, though. We can keep the boxes behind the counter, just make sure none of the little ones get into them.” 

 

The month flew by faster than ever, and soon, Patton found himself with Emile on the night of the Halloween party. Emile had convinced Patton to not wear his dog costume this year (Patton had been previously popular in college because of his karaoke performances of “Who Let The Dogs Out?” during the yearly Halloween contest). 

 

Instead, Patton sported his Watson costume, while Emile donned a Steven Universe costume (he’d forgotten that Halloween was coming up, amidst college and financial aid applications). 

 

Roman swung the door open before they could knock. He beamed at them. “I TOLD YOU I’M PSYCHIC!” He yelled into his apartment, where music was already blasting. “Hellooo.” Roman said, waving his hand around. “Welcome to my palace.” 

 

Emile assumed Roman was, at the very least, tipsy based on his dilated pupils. Or just hyper (one could never tell). Still, the two brothers stepped inside. 

 

“Stay safe, alright bud? And if someone tries anything, come get one of us. I don’t think anyone will, but still.” Patton said, letting go of Emile once they’d reached the safety of Roman’s kitchen. “Only drink out of that water bottle, and keep an eye on it at all times.” 

 

In the kitchen, the other arcade employees congregated. Roman, Dylan, and Thomas were keen on letting loose in the crowd of people, but Remy, Logan, and Virgil hung back, sipping seltzer water slowly. 

 

“Hey, kid. Didn’t think this would be your kind of place on a Saturday night.” Remy said, ruffling Emile’s hair. “Nice Steven Universe costume.” 

 

The music made a switch to Lady Marmalade from Moulin Rouge, and Roman burst into the kitchen. “Come on, guys! It’s time to party!” He said, pulling Virgil into the crowd of people out in the living room. 

 

“Do you want to dance?” Patton asked Logan shyly. “Or, talk on the balcony?” 

 

“The balcony is preferable.” Logan said, and together the two slipped into the crowd in search for a quieter space. 

 

“I take it this is your first party?” Remy smirked at Emile, who was currently standing rigid against the countertop. “Or you’re just a huge wallflower.” 

 

“No, I’ve been to parties before.. Not that Patton knows.” Emile shrugged, taking a sip of his water. “I don’t do anything there, I just kind of… _ watch  _ everyone else.” 

 

“So you’re a wallflower.” Remy said, drinking out of his red cup before speaking again. “You wanna play a game?” 

 

“Uh.. okay.” 

 

“I’m going to point to someone, and we’re going to make up a story about them based on whatever they do or what they look like. I do this at every party when I don’t feel like jumping onto the dance floor, and it’s even better on Halloween.” Remy’s eyes scanned the room carefully. “Red devil, straight ahead.” 

 

Emile’s eyes flitted over to a woman in a bright red, skin tight costume. Atop her head was a little pair of devil horns. “Maybe she’s wearing that costume because she wants someone to notice her. She’s newly single, she just wants someone to tell her she’s pretty.” 

 

“Damn, you’re good. Hey, what about that bunny at 3 o’cl-” Remy cut himself off, rushing over to a man who was swaggering up to them. He wore a cowboy hat and pointed boots, thumbs laced through his belt loops. His stubble was enough to be noticeable but not enough to be considered a full beard. 

 

“August!” Remy practically screamed, jumping up and wrapping his arms around the man’s neck. “I thought you said you had midterms to study for this weekend!” 

 

“I finished early and wanted to surprise you.” The man said, spinning Remy around before setting him down to give him a kiss. “Surprise.” 

 

Under the kitchen lights, Emile gave the man another once-over. Remy had mentioned a guy named August before, as a crush. He wasn’t exactly sure when they started dating, although they clearly were, judging from that welcome. 

 

August had a bright smile, and in the light, Emile could now see his dreadlocks, tied up and cascading down the man’s back. He was only a little taller than Remy; well, maybe half a foot. 

 

Emile tried not to stare too much, but he wasn’t sure what to do now. He knew Patton would definitely not want him on the dance floor, and besides, he didn’t want to be surrounded by drunk people this early in the night. 

 

“August, this is Emile. He’s my friend’s little brother. We’re hanging out in here tonight because-”

 

“Neither of y’all like parties. Then why on Earth did you say yes?” August asked with a chuckle, glancing over at Remy. 

 

“It’s Roman! He’s a fun guy. I just figured I’d stop by and hang out with the kid. Actually,” Remy said, looking over at Emile. “Hey, kid, you want to go get ice cream with us? We’ll drop you off at home after. I know this isn’t your scene.” 

 

“Let me ask Patton.” Emile said, pulling out his phone.

 

**Patton**

 

**Going to get ice cream and a ride home with**

**Remy and his bf. Is that okay?**

_ Read at 7:50 PM _

 

**Did you eat dinner? Maybe stop and**

**get pizza before ice cream. Tell Remy I’ll**

**pay him back. I’ll try not**

**to come home too late.**

 

“He said it’s okay.” Emile said, pocketing his phone. “But he wants us to go get dinner before we get any sweets.” 

 

“Maybe we could go grab some sandwiches and coffee…?” Remy suggested, smirking over at his boyfriend. 

 

“Babe, I love you, but we are  _ not _ going to Starbucks for dinner.” August said very seriously, shaking his head. “Burger Joint it is.” 

~~~

 

A burger later, August drove down the main street, parallel parking near the ice cream parlor. Luckily, his driving and parking skills were better than Remy’s, so Emile felt a little safer in the car. 

 

“Hey, Emile, what’s your favorite color?” August had been asking Emile questions all night. Remy didn’t seem to be jealous about August focusing his attention on Emile - after all, he adored the kid as much as August. 

 

“Pink.” 

 

“Bold choice. I like pink too. Remy, what about you?” 

 

“Black, like my soul.” Remy deadpanned, and Emile laughed. 

 

“Hey! You’re Remy, not Virgil!” Emile joked as they walked into the parlor. 

 

“Aw, you guys are so cute! Family night out?” The cashier said, and Emile blushed. 

 

“No, I’m not-” 

 

“He’s our friend’s little brother.” August said. “We’re just hanging out with him for the night.” 

 

“Well, enjoy your night!” 

 

After they dropped Emile at home, August started to drive back to Roman’s place so they could get Remy’s car. 

 

“That’s funny that the cashier thought we were a family.” Remy said, giggling a little in his seat. “It’s certainly progressive.” 

 

“Rem, do you think you’d want kids?” 

 

The question hit Remy like a bucket of cold water. 

 

“I mean, with me.” 

 

Another bucket of cold water. 

 

“I… um..” 

 

“That’s okay if you don’t know, I know that’s really far in the future and we might not even be together by then but I just wanted to ask-” 

 

“August, I’d love to do that someday. Once we’re out of college and figured stuff out and moved in and maybe gotten married, then we can start thinking about kids. Just... One step at a time, okay?” 

 

August clasped Remy’s hand in his over the console. “One step at a time.” 


	28. Q + A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I'm stressed because college apps and I haven't had time to write much and we don't want to run out of stock chapters yet so here's a q+a even tho no one read the last chapter. 
> 
> \- Nox

**Q: How long have you been in the fandom?**

 

_**Clam:** I joined a little over a year ago? It was during the drought._

 

**[note from Nox: for new fanders, the drought was a one year period where we didn’t get any sanders sides content.]**

 

_**Nox:** Jeez, I don’t know how long. I’ve been around since like the EARLY early days. I still remember the chaos whenever Thomas revealed a character’s name._

 

**Q: who’s your favourite side?**

 

_**Clam:** LOGANLOGANLOGANLOG_

 

_**Nox:** Yeah, pretty much. I do love Virgil as well. My favorite one to write is Roman though, he’s so much fun._

 

**Q: will we get more of August?**

 

**_Clam:_** _I love August so much y’all. I only made him up for a ficlet but I will break kneecaps then stop writing him._

 

_**Nox:** frankly August was kind of... a mistake. We were writing the halloween chapter (16.0) and it started getting weird after Remy was talking to Emile for more than a few paragraphs. So we made August, and got attached to him very quickly. I want to write more of August, even if he only pops up from time to time to be part of the one ship that is only (so far) “canon” to the fic. For now though, he'll pop up a lot in the ficlets. _

 

**Q: does the arcade have a color scheme?**

 

_**Clam:** I always saw red, white, and gold as the outside colors (bc or Roman) and the inside is like a mish-mash or areas with certain color schemes (laser tag being black/ purple; retro rode as light blue/white; etc)_

 

_**Nox:** good question. I’m imagining black and purple, but I think the arcade would be kind of styled red, white, and gold too! Also, they’d totally have those purple carpets with multi-colored lines all over them. _

 

**Q: are all the ships slow burn?**

 

_**Clam:** I wouldn’t say SLOW. More like... inconveniently long, ya feel?_

 

_**Nox:** besides August and Remy, yeah. I want you guys to see the ending but honestly, I don’t think I’m ready to reach that point yet with the writing. [Can you tell how hard it is to not tell you all everything???] Prinxiety shouldn't be as long as Logicality, that's all I can say._

 

**Character Questions:**

**[A note from Nox: initially I wasn't really sure I should do this because it feels like one of those 2012 fics but cringe culture is dead so fuck it]**

 

**Q: Emile - this is not a question but you are amazing and I admire you greatly**

 

**[Nox: Emile is blushing and Remy is snickering in the background]**

_**Patton:** Now kiddo, say-_

_**Emile:** Thank you!!_

 

**Q: Roman - can you tell us about some of the other people at the party?**

 

_**Roman:** Why, of course! We have Talyn, they’re awesome! They help me dye my hair sometimes. Then we have Adri, and she’s awesome! Her style is always changing and she always has the best fashion tips! There’s Kenny and Camden too, and they both love to sing Disney with me! We were quite the trio in college. As for the others... Pardon me, my memory of that night isn’t the best. I can go on for hours about my friends-_

**_[Nox: okay, okay, that's enough]_ **

 

**Q: what’s everyone’s favourite item of clothing?**

 

_**Thomas:** my um, nametag? _

**[Nox: he isn’t really sure what to say. Too many options.]**

 

_**Logan:** my tie. Patton gave it to me for my birth-_

**[Nox, with a shit-eating grin: go on.]**

_ANYWAYS, Patton gave it to me. That’s a story for ANOTHER time._

 

_**Roman:** Does my sword count?_

**[Nox: uh, sure. We’ll just ignore the inappropriate connotations...]**

 

**Virgil:** _My hoodie. not the one I got for Christmas. The other one._

 

_**Patton:** my glasses, they help me see things!_

**[cue Logan facepalming in the background]**

 

_**Dylan:** my FNAF hat. I wear it around un-ironically all the time._

 

_**Emile** : my Steven universe shirt!_

 

_**Remy:** whatever makes me feel and look good ;)_

 

_**August:** my cowboy boots._

 

**Q: do any of you speak any other languages than English?**

 

_**Logan:** I am proficient at saying “the prince is stupid” in multiple languages. I'm unsure if that qualifies. _

 

_**Roman:** HEY!_

 

_**Logan:** Do you know any languages, Roman?_

 

_**Roman (muttering):** ...no._

 

_**Dylan:** uh, I speak German?_

 

_**Virgil:** I know cuss words in most languages. Does that count?_

 

_**August:** Je parle français._

 

_**Remy:** ugh, can you BE any more perfect?_

 

_**Emile:** I... know Japanese? Just the basics._

 

_**Patton:** wait, since when?_

 

_**Emile (muttering):** since I started watching my hero academia..._

 

**Q: If you weren't working in the arcade, where do you think you would be in life? (like jobs, states, relationships etc...)**

 

_**Thomas:** I’d probably still work at Starbucks._

 

_**Remy:** heh, yeah, probably the same. Maybe increase my student debt with extra classes to pass the time._

 

_**Logan:** well I double majored in psychology so perhaps a researcher?_

 

_**Patton:** working with kids! but I can’t imagine not meeting everyone..._

 

_**Emile:** still at school._

 

_**Dylan:** still slacking and probably passed out on someone’s couch..._

 

_**Virgil:** be an engineer, maybe go back to school to be a computer scientist. Maybe head out to California to work for like, google, or something._

 

_**August:** I mean... I don't work for the arcade but I hope I'd still be with Remy._

 

_**Roman:** who knows? I may still be an actor. I am, but I’m not doing it consistently as I used to. Maybe I’d restart in Hollywood._


	29. 16.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everybody’s got a red solo cup, fill it up, fill it up, watch the beer spill on the ground-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m uploading this from my phone before I go to work so pardon the format if it’s a little weird!   
> Fun fact of the chapter: progress on both ships makes me cry because with them comes ANGST...
> 
> Also, I noticed you all stopped commenting! I don’t know if it’s because we started uploading at random times on Sunday or what but just a reminder that our comment goal is 10 and I’d really love it if you all would keep it up! 
> 
> Thank you for your support and hopefully a new ficlet will be up this Wednesday! 
> 
> Nox

Logan and Patton sat on Roman’s tiny balcony, away from all of the music. It could still be heard, muffled through the walls.

 

“Your costume… I’m assuming it’s from simulation day?” Logan asked, awkwardly clutching the neck of his beer bottle. He wasn’t good at small talk, but if Patton wanted to talk, he’d talk almost anything. 

 

“Yeah. Watson. Emile mentioned I should wear it tonight.” Patton said. “I don’t know why, it’s really just a scarf and cardigan and the hat-” 

 

“It’s good.” Logan blurted out. “I mean, you make a good Watson.” He corrected himself, grateful that the patio lights were dim. 

 

“Thanks.” 

 

A moment of silence.

 

“Do you think we should do anything with an arcade? I’ve been meaning to ask around but we have a lot of extra money now and we’re not sure what to do with it.” Even in the dim light, Logan could see Patton’s hopeful shoulders shrink down. 

 

“I don’t know, I think we’re functional right now, don’t you?” Patton sipped his beer. Liquid courage never worked for him, but maybe tonight it would. 

 

“I suppose so.” 

 

The two fell silent again, and Logan felt himself start to panic. He couldn’t pull out his conversational flash cards, that would be humiliating. As grateful as he was to Virgil for making them, he couldn’t pull them out at random. What were they supposed to talk about? Didn’t all of those love columns always state that when people were in love they could talk for hours without running out of things to say? How could you run out if you had nothing to start with?

 

_ It’s Patton, _ his head reminded him. Patton could talk about the most menial thing and still be enthusiastic. 

 

“Y’know, when we were younger, I used to point out the window and tell Emile where all the constellations were.” Patton chuckled to himself. “I don’t know how I could. Sometimes I’d make them up, and I wasn’t even sure that the real ones were the ones we were looking at. But Emile loved it. He used to ask for star time every night.”

 

“You can’t see them anymore, maybe because we’re too close to the city. But I still love looking at the sky. There’s something about it I can’t describe.” He stepped closer to the balcony’s fence. 

 

“Those stars are a part of us. Well, in the literal sense, at least.” Logan said, joining Patton at the balcony fence. “Stars are made of iron, the same iron that runs in our blood. So, quite literally, we are partly made of stars.” 

 

“Be noble, for you are made of stars.’ Maybe that’s what that mural meant.” 

 

“Well, I don’t think the scientific world was at that point just yet-” Logan started, but then faltered. “But maybe. That was a Serbian proverb.”

 

“Hmm.” Patton hummed. “I didn’t know about either of those.” 

 

“You like astronomy?” 

 

“I liked mythology when I was younger, but, I, uh, kinda stopped after high school started. If I wasn’t in school, I was working, or taking care of Emile. I didn’t really have time for…  myself.” 

 

“But you are interested in the subject?” 

 

“Who wouldn’t? They’re messy but they’re still like these fairy tales where everything happens for a reason.” Patton looked down at his bottle. “At this point, I’m not really sure if anything in my life really happens for a reason.” 

 

“I’m not a big believer in fate, but the future is what you make of it, isn’t it?” 

 

Patton laughed dryly. “I’ll drink to that.” 

 

~~~

 

“WOO!” Roman yelled for the third time that night, pulling Virgil by the hand through the crowd of costumed people. He was dressed as Flynn Rider while Virgil hadn’t dressed up at all, not wanting to go through the trouble. Still, he was dressed differently than he typically was at work, with a button up and boots tucked neatly underneath his jeans. 

 

Finally, Roman stopped pulling, and Virgil took his hand away, swaying a little to the music but not quite dancing. 

 

Why couldn’t he let loose? Roman wouldn’t remember anything anyways.

 

But he felt responsible, so he tried to stick by Roman’s side the whole night. If this only meant preventing minor accidents, then so be it.

 

The night flew by, with Virgil always keeping an eye on his coworker. People could do dumb things when they were drunk. Sometimes, even dangerous things. 

 

Virgil hadn’t planned on staying after, but here he was, helping a drunk Roman to bed. The situation was, quite frankly, uncomfortable, but Virgil’s conscience would never let it go if he just left his coworker on his own.

 

“Sleepy.” Roman slurred as Virgil stumbled his way to Roman’s room. “Sleepy, sleepy, sleeeepy.” 

 

“I know, Princey, me too.” Virgil groaned, practically falling through the doorway and then somehow managing to get Roman to sit upright on his bed. 

 

Roman’s room was simple; playbills littered the walls, as did posters and other miscellaneous things. His bed, luckily, was pushed against the back wall, in the middle of everything. 

 

Virgil only slipped Roman’s shoes off before pulling his legs up and trying to put him into a lying position. However, he wasn’t watching Roman’s hands, which grabbed the lapel of Virgil’s shirt, crashing Virgil’s lips with his. 

 

_ This isn’t him _ , Virgil reminded himself.  _ He’s drunk, he probably doesn’t even remember who I am. _ Careful not to be aggressive, Virgil pulled himself away. He couldn’t do this. Not now. This wasn’t who he was. He would - _ could _ \- never do that, not to someone he cared about.

 

He wanted Roman, but not in this way. Not when he was drunk and not thinking straight.

 

The two breathed heavily, staring at each other in shock.

 

Briefly, Roman sobered up, blinking at Virgil. “God, I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.” He sighed. He wasn’t as drunk as Virgil thought, but still enough that his actions were influenced. “You have no idea..” 

 

Virgil hadn’t even had anything to drink but his head was spinning, alarms going off in his brain.

 

“You’re  _ drunk, _ Princey, go to bed. I’ll… um, I’ll see you at work in a few days.” Virgil stammered before rushing out of the apartment, his things already in his pockets. 

 

_ Fucking Princey and the goddamn kiss and why the hell would he do that- _

 

A million thoughts raced through Virgil’s head as he left, but there was only one that stayed still. 

 

What had just happened?


	30. 16.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emile and Logan save the day (kind of. maybe.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!   
> I'm sorry my timing is wack with the time I update on sundays, I have work from 10:00 to 3:00 PST on Sundays so me uploading in the morning is entirely dependent on if I get up early enough (I usually don't).   
> Anyways.   
> Fun fact of the chapter: This is what makes Emile want to be a therapist.   
> Comment goal is ten! Please make it!!!!   
> Nox

The next time Virgil saw Roman, he couldn’t look him in the eye. Roman barely remembered what had happened. He remembered Virgil, a kiss, a confession - all of it one sided. 

 

“Virgil-” Roman said when the weekly Monday morning staff meeting finished. Logan and Emile exchanged a look, wondering what had happened now.

 

“Not now, Roman.” Virgil said, not bothering to turn around and instead, walking off to the control room.

 

“O-okay.” Roman’s shoulders sank. He raised his hand to reach out, but withdrew it quickly, walking away with his shoulders slumped. 

 

Virgil locked himself in the control room for most of the day. The next day, he did the same thing.

 

The third day, Emile looked for him during his “lunch” break. A kid around his age had approached him earlier that afternoon, asking why the laser tag arena was closed since yesterday. He’d simply answered, “We had to fix something, but it’ll be back up soon.” 

 

He wasn’t exactly lying. They did have to fix something, but it wasn’t something involving the arena. 

 

“Virgil?” Emile called out as he walked through the empty laser tag lobby. “Where are you?” 

 

He checked the control room. No Virgil. 

 

There was only one place he could be, but what if Virgil didn’t want Emile there? What if he just needed space? 

 

Well, he’d had space for three days. He needed to talk to someone, like it or not. Emile would wait with him until Virgil was ready. 

 

He walked to the breakdown closet, a place he hadn’t been in weeks. Slowly and carefully, he unlocked the door and slipped inside. 

 

It was dark inside, with only the fairy lights lining the walls to illuminate the space. “Virgil?” Emile asked quietly. “Are you in here?” 

 

The quiet sobs coming from the corner was the only answer Emile received. “I’m… I’m gonna come closer, okay?” Emile said, walking up to the dark mass of blankets and sat down across from him. 

 

“Do… Do you want to talk about it?” 

 

A hiccup, a sob. “I should, right?” Virgil’s voice came out from somewhere in the darkness. A sniffle. 

 

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” Emile said, remembering all the things Patton always said when he had a panic attack. “Do you want to talk to me or to someone else?” 

 

“Y-you’re fine.” 

 

A pause. “Do you have the tissues?” Emile asked, and amongst the darkness, a shiny box was held up. “That’s a yes.” 

 

Emile waited patiently. Patton always waited for him to speak, never bombarding him with questions. Sometimes his presence was enough. He wondered if Virgil felt the same way now. 

 

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sound being Virgil’s sniffles. Once in a while he’d clear his throat, but Emile stayed still, knowing that he had to wait this out. 

 

“A-after the party, Roman… kissed me.” Virgil said slowly. Emile tried hard not to react. He’d thought the two were actually dating when he first met them, but according to Patton, they’d had a rocky start to their friendship. 

 

He waited until Virgil spoke again. This time, it sounded like a dam bursting. “He was drunk, and I was sober, and I shouldn’t have let it happen, but I kissed back before I realized it was wrong to take advantage of him like that and what if it was just his drunken mistake? What if he didn’t mean it?” Inhale. His words came slower now. “He said afterwards that he wanted to kiss me. That I had no idea how much he.. He  _ liked _ me a-and I ran out because I didn’t know what to do.” 

 

Virgil’s mouth was picking up speed now, spitting out words even though Emile could tell his thoughts were running faster. “And he probably hates me now because I’ve been avoiding him but what if he remembered? And what if he regrets it? And what if he’s just pulling the punch to be nice?” 

 

“So you two haven’t talked since then?” 

 

“No.” 

 

“I can’t say I’ve been in your shoes before, because I’ve never had that happen to me. But… I think we can work this out. Together.”    
  
~~~

 

At the same time, Logan had an agenda of his own concerning the arcade’s prince. Somehow, Logan had cornered Roman during Roman’s break and dragged him into the break room. 

 

“What on earth is going on with you and Virgil now?” Logan asked, rubbing his eyes as he closed the door. “The two of you haven’t spoken since the Halloween party.” 

 

“I… Don’t remember, actually. I mean, it’s all kind of fuzzy.” Roman said, opting to lie down on the small couch Patton had dragged in. Logan, on the other hand, sat upright and poised in a fold out chair nearby. “I remember a kiss? And me saying that I really wanted to kiss him for a long time?” 

 

Logan groaned, putting his face in his hands. “I thought this was another petty fight. You know I’m not equipped to handle emotional dilemmas.”

 

“Please, Logan. You’re the only one who can connect the dots fast enough.” Roman said, glancing over at his manager. “Tell me what happened.” 

 

“Roman, I wasn’t there.” Logan reminded him. “But, I’ll do my best. Tell me what you remember.” 

 

Roman’s account was mostly fuzzy, but there were a few key details. They kissed, Virgil pulled away and left quickly. 

 

“You were intoxicated when this all happened, correct?” Logan asked, and Roman sighed. 

 

“Unfortunately.” 

 

“He must have pulled away out of fear of taking advantage of you because of your...er,  _ state. _ ” Logan furrowed his eyebrows the way he always did. “Clearly, you were sober enough to remember a few things.”

 

“Uh-huh.” 

 

“And you’ve tried talking to him?” 

 

“Every time I see him I’ve tried to explain but he just runs away!” Roman covered his face with his hands. “Maybe my instincts were wrong. Maybe he doesn’t like me that way.” 

 

“You know I can’t speak for him.” Logan said with a raised eyebrow.

 

“What do you think? What should I do?” 

 

“Perhaps you two could meet outside of work. Clearly, if it’s affecting your productivity, as your manager I’ll have to kindly ask you to resolve things on your own.” 

 

Roman looked at Logan. That’s  _ all _ he was going to say? 

 

Logan closed his eyes for a moment and then sighed. “But, as a well meaning friend, I suppose I could help you.” 


	31. 16.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sometimes laser tag doesn't fix everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! God, Clam and I have been waiting to post this chapter ALL MONTH. We're so excited for you to see this! 
> 
> As most of you in the comments of the last chapter may have guessed, there is laser tag involved. But... sometimes, it isn't enough. 
> 
> Fun fact of the chapter: I'm pretty sure I screamed while writing this. Also, protective Emile is my favorite Emile. 
> 
> Please remember our comment goal and if you see this on tumblr, PLEASE reblog! I'd love to get this circulating more. There's also a ficlet that's supposed to be in between this chapter and the last so check that out on my AO3 page under 'Mind Palace Ficlets'. Clam mostly wrote that one, so shout out to them for writing that and being my awesome co-writer/beta-reader. 
> 
> See you next week!
> 
> Nox

 

**Mind Palace Arcade Staff**

 

_ [Logan]: we have another… issue, concerning two of our employees. _

 

_ [Emile]: ha, you can say that again.  _

 

_ [Dylan]: I know what you’re going to say and I’m going to tell you right now that it’s a terrible idea and I think Virgil is going to kill you if he finds out  _

 

_ [Thomas]: It’s a fun way! _

 

_ [Emile]: Logan you don’t get it this could push Virgil out of the arcade FOR GOOD.  _

 

_ [Emile]: I know that everything is correct until proven otherwise but just trust me on this one. It can’t be solved that way.  _

 

_ [Patton]: It definitely seems bigger than they’re letting on. _

 

_ [Remy]: is playing laser tag on the same team the equivalent of shoving two people in a closet and forcing them to make up for the arcade??? _

 

_ [Thomas]: yep! _

 

_ [Emile]: you can’t do this to Virgil.  _

 

_ [Logan]: Emile, Virgil’s a fully grown adult, I’m sure he can handle it. _

 

_ [Dylan]: you know it’s not that simple.  _

 

_ [Logan]: what else are we supposed to do? _

 

_ [Dylan]: NOT INTERFERE.  _

 

_ [Logan]: Roman asked me to help. I fail to see why this wouldn’t.  _

 

_ [Patton]: wait first before you do it. Maybe they’ll sort it out on their own. _

 

_ [Remy]: i agree with that. _

 

~~~

 

The following week, a staff day was planned. Emile went to school (although he had protested very much against Logan’s idea) and the others, including Remy, went to work. 

 

Remy burst into the control room minutes before Virgil entered the arena. “We’re a go.” He said, locking the door quickly. The others crowded around the console, watching a defeated Roman looking down at his feet. 

 

“I hope this works.” Patton said, raising a hand to cover his mouth. 

 

“It  _ has _ to.” Logan said. 

 

Down below, Virgil entered the arena. 

 

“No. _ No fucking way. _ _”_ Virgil said. He turned to where the control room was stationed and stuck his middle finger up towards the windows. “I’m not doing this.” 

 

The microphone clicked on. “You two need to talk. I did warn Logan that this was a bad idea.” Dylan sighed from above. “Even if it takes a few hours to warm up to each other.” 

 

“No, I’m not doing this. Stay the hell out of my love life! You don’t need to be involved, a-and you don’t need to be invested in it. I’m fine on my own and I don’t need your well intentions!” Virgil yelled. He took his vest off, glaring up at them the entire time. 

 

“What is he doing?” Logan asked, leaning forward. None of them could hear what Virgil was yelling, but he practically radiated anger. 

 

“Virgil-” Roman started. The technician whirled around and pointed at him.

 

“No.  _ No! _ You were drunk and I just happened to be there. That’s it. We’re  _ fine _ . I don’t need to talk to you again.” Virgil exclaimed, heading for the exits. 

 

“Virgil.” Roman said again, his voice more firm now. Virgil stopped, but didn’t turn around. His whole body was tense. “Look, I can’t make you talk to me. But don’t blame them. I’m the one who asked Logan for help.” He took a deep breath. “Don’t leave the arcade because of me.” 

 

Virgil sighed, speed-walking out. He couldn’t stay here anymore. He needed to hide again. 

 

“I’ll go-” Patton started to head out to chase after Virgil, but Dylan stopped him, putting a hand on Patton’s shoulder. 

 

“It’s better if we just give him space for now.”

 

~~~

 

Of course, Emile was furious when he found out. 

 

“How could you _do_ that to him?” He yelled as he burst into the arcade. Virgil had sent him a few texts from the breakdown closet earlier, and it had taken all of Emile’s willpower to not run out of class and find him. 

 

“You knew how he felt about the subject!” Emile said, angrily marching up to a stoic Logan. 

 

“Kiddo-” Patton started, stepping forward to set a hand on Emile. Still, Emile marched forward before his older brother could stop him.

 

“You _knew_ how big the risk would be! You knew the negatives outweighed _everything,_ and you still did it.” Emile said. _“Why?_ Was it worth it?” 

 

“I… I regret the way it was handled.” Logan said quietly. “Please tell Virgil I’m sorry.” 

 

“Tell him yourself.” Emile snapped, storming off to the breakdown closet. 

 

“I haven’t seen him that angry in a long time.” Patton sighed. “I’m really sorry about that.” 

 

Logan rubbed his eyes from fatigue. “If I knew any better, I’d say that I deserved every word. It appears my hypothesis about the game solving our problems has been proven wrong.” 

 

Down the hall, Emile opened the door of the breakdown closet slowly. “Virgil? Are you in here?” 

 

“Hey.” Virgil sat against one of the walls, this time not completely in darkness. The fairy lights were on. He gave Emile a weak smile. “I heard what you said to Logan.” 

 

“Was I that loud?” 

 

“Yep.” 

 

There was a brief pause as Emile closed the door behind him. 

 

“Thanks for standing up for me. You didn’t need to do that.” 

 

“I told Logan not to do it when he told us what he was planning.” 

 

“Yeah, he’s stubborn that way.” 

 

Another pause. Emile sat next to Virgil. 

 

Quietly, the boy asked, “Are you going to leave?” 

 

“I’ll be using my vacation days for a little bit, but no. I’m not going to leave.” 

 

“Why would you stay after all this?” 

 

Virgil looked over at Emile. “As much as I can’t stand being around Roman, the thought of not seeing him every day hurts even more.” 

 

“But what if that’s not healthy?” 

 

Virgil gave Emile another weak smile. “It’s my life, kiddo. I have to figure that out for myself.” 

 

“Okay.” 

 

The two sat there for a while, Emile leaning his head on Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil spoke again after a few minutes had passed. 

 

“I was thinking about the other day, and… I think I’m going to start going to therapy again. I don’t think it’s a good idea to put this stuff on the shoulders of my friends.”

 

“That sounds good. I’m glad you’re taking care of yourself.” 

 

“Thanks, kid.” 


	32. 17.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i am tHE dUkE and it's high time that I've dropped iN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is definitely ridiculous, I can't even begin to explain-
> 
> IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS:   
> 1) my birthday is next week so I may not update but I probably will knowing that I forget about it all the time  
> 2) Let us know if we should make a discord server for this fic! After every chapter we can discuss it. 
> 
> As always, comment, reblog, and kudos! Thank you to Clam for everything they've done for me and I'll see you next week!
> 
> Nox

Although the Halloween drama didn’t  _ quite _ settle as the others had hoped, they did their best to keep things normal. Virgil and Roman were civil at best, though they avoided each other even around customers. Patton had even dryly remarked that the two were playing a long-winded game of Telephone. 

 

After a stern talking to, Emile had apologized to Logan for his words. The conversation had turned into one where Logan confessed that while he loved psychology, he could never understand what it was to be an empath, like Emile. The next week, the younger Picani appeared with a little scrapbook that was a carefully written guide to picking up on others’ emotions. Privately, Logan had thanked him profusely. 

 

School had just let out for Thanksgiving break, so the arcade was packed with plenty of families. Laser tag started running every half hour, and Logan had even needed to order extra stock for the prize counter in order to keep up with the influx of customers. 

 

On Wednesday, the arcade emptied out, as most were having their lunch-dinners then. Logan had offered to give the Picani brothers the day off the night before. “I hope work isn’t interrupting your holidays. If you’d like, we can manage. Wednesday of Thanksgiving week is always quiet.”

 

Patton had looked at Emile. “What do you think, kiddo?” 

 

Emile shrugged noncommittally. “It’s not like there’s any family to be with. What about you, Logan? Don’t you go home for Thanksgiving?” 

 

“Only during Christmas, my family is from New York. It’s easier that way.” 

 

“Would you like to spend Thursday with us?” Emile had blurted out. Patton’s eyes had widened so much that for a brief second, Logan wondered if they could fall out.

 

“As long as I’m not imposing-” 

 

“Of course not!” Patton had said. 

 

And so, the Picani brothers worked on Wednesday. 

 

Up until the late afternoon, the arcade had been nearly empty. Remy had gone home to his family, as well as Virgil, Thomas and Dylan.

 

And then Duke arrived. 

 

Duke Remus Samson could be a carbon copy of Roman, were it not for the silver streak in his hair and a mustache that could rival Blackbeard’s infamous one. Still, they shared the same looks for the most part. 

 

Personality wise, they were completely different. 

 

“Roman!” Duke greeted, leaving his suitcase in the middle of the front entryway to hug his twin. “It’s been too long.” 

 

“It hasn’t been long enough.” Roman said dryly, hugging back. “I thought I told you to go to my apartment.” 

 

“Yes, well, I wanted to see where you work, of course! It’s only fair.” 

 

“How is it fair if I’ve never visited you?” 

 

“You wound me, Roman.” Duke said, putting a hand over his heart. “I thought you knew all older brothers have their privileges.” 

 

“For the last time, you were born a minute before I was. That means that there’s only  _ one minute _ on our birthday where you’re a year older-” Roman said, rolling his eyes. 

 

Noticing that, for the first time today, the arcade seemed lively, Logan walked over. “Roman, would you like to introduce me?” 

 

“No need. My name is Duke. I’m Roman’s older-“

 

“TWIN!”

 

“Brother.” Duke finished with a smirk. “Actually, we’re triplets-” 

 

“But Anton’s not here right now.” Roman said, shooting a glare at his brother. “Duke, I’ll meet you at home-”

 

“Nonsense! You only have a few hours left, I might as well spend it here.” Emile and Patton, who had caught a small bit of the conversation from the prize counter, glanced at each other. One Roman was enough, but three? They must have been a nightmare when they were younger. 

 

“Then don’t bother me.” Roman groaned, pushing his brother off to Retro Road. 

 

Emile knew that Roman’s relief wouldn’t last long. After an hour of silence, Duke appeared at the prize counter. Patton was on his lunch break, so Emile was at the counter, alone. Duke leaned on it, his chin resting in the palm of his hand. 

 

“Could I have a strip of that green ribbon over there?” Duke said, pointing across the counter. Emile looked at him dubiously. 

 

“That’s not a prize.” Emile said slowly. 

 

“Please?” Duke asked, shooting a charming smile towards the teenager. Emile looked at him with his best “why are you like this” face before giving in. 

 

“How much do you need?” He asked tiredly, reaching for the ribbon. They weren’t going to use it, other than for decorations. 

 

“I can do it.” Duke said, taking the ribbon once Emile had turned around. “You have scissors?” 

 

“Yeah.” 

 

Duke cut a long strip before tying it across his torso, mirroring the sash Roman often wore. The green was bright against Duke’s black button up shirt. 

 

“Perfect. Now, would you mind getting that inflatable mallet up there for me?” Duke smiled mischievously. 

 

“250 tickets, please.” Emile said, holding out a hand. Duke produced the tickets almost immediately, and Emile grabbed the mallet while the ticket counter whirred. 

 

“You, my good sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.” Duke said, stepping back from the counter with the inflatable toy and bowing regally. Emile watched Roman’s brother walk away, confused about what had just occurred. 

 

Unknowingly, Emile had given Duke the perfect way to piss off his twin brother. 

 

~~~

 

Now, both of the Samsons present in the arcade had inflatable weapons. Chaos was about to be unleashed. 

 

At first, it started with Duke mildly tapping Roman on the back with the mallet, disappearing from sight when Roman turned around. Already, Roman was getting agitated. Whenever Duke started doing that, it was often part of his recipe for disaster. 

 

“Duke, I’m _ working.” _ Roman groaned to seemingly no one. 

 

After a few minutes of this nonsense, Duke decided it was time to up the ante. It then turned into him making random noises around the arcade, causing Roman to run around, trying to stop his brother from wreaking havoc (in fairness, it was Roman’s job to begin with. He was technically protecting the arcade from his brother).

 

When it was finally quiet again, Roman sighed, thinking that Duke had to be tired by now.

 

That was, until he saw the ball pit. 

 

The ball pit was a recent addition to the arcade, only added after Halloween. Ironically, mostly teenagers used it, while the little kids preferred to play actual games. Now, standing in the middle of the pit, was Duke, with his infamous, shit-eating grin. 

 

“Duke, just go home!” Roman whined, stamping his foot like a little kid. “I’m  _ working _ and you’re not helping. Now get out!” 

 

“Nah, I’d like to stay in here.” Duke said, grabbing one of the many plastic balls and inspecting it, holding his nose up in the air. 

  
“Duke Remus Samson, you get out of there right now!” Roman nearly shouted. 

 

“Good luck!” Duke grinned, before fully submerging himself into the pit. 

 

“Come on-” Roman groaned, putting down his inflatable sword and climbing into the pit himself. 

 

“Duke, seriously, get out.” Roman growled. Meanwhile, Logan, Patton, and Emile watched from the pit’s entrance, all of them trying to hide their smiles and laughs. 

 

Duke popped up, only a few feet away from Roman. “No can do!” 

 

“Duke Remus Samson, I swear to all that is holy-” Roman started, but before he could finish, his brother had already submerged himself again. 

 

This went on for half an hour, until Duke climbed himself out of the pit, brushed off his shoulders, and turned to look back at his brother. 

 

“I’ll see you at home, dear brother!” He announced before walking out of the arcade. 

 

Needless to say, Roman was in a bad mood for the rest of the day - especially when he found out that Logan kept the security recording for the others’ amusement. 


	33. 18.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fried chicken sounds pretty good for thanksgiving not gonna lie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I’m typing this on my phone before work but I got some good news!   
> 1) we’re doing another q+a/behind the scenes chapter in a week or two so send in your questions!   
> 2) it’s my birthday and I just found out that I got accepted to my top college!   
> 3) Logicality FLUFF.
> 
> You all know the drill, thank you to Clam for keeping my sanity in check. 
> 
> Nox

For the fourth time that month, Logan found himself staring at Patton’s front door. Unlike the other instances, he held the neck of a bottle of wine in his left hand. He knocked once, twice, until he heard yelling and a thump from the other side of the door. Emile swung open the door, a large grin on his face. 

 

“Hi Logan!” Emile beamed. Tonight, he was wearing a black button up and a pink tie; Logan had noted that pink was a favorite color of Emile’s. “Patton’s still getting ready but you can come in.” 

 

Logan stepped into the apartment. This was the first time he’d seen it barren of clutter; Patton must have spent the whole morning cleaning, almost as if he had something to prove. He sniffed the air. “Is.. do I smell fried chicken?” 

 

“Yep!” Patton said, appearing from his room. “It’s kind of a tradition.” He was wearing a pink button up with a black tie; a contrast to Emile.

 

At Logan’s raised eyebrow, Patton rushed to explain. “The first year it was just us… we didn’t have the money. We were living on my friend’s couch. So I ordered the next best thing, and it’s always been that way. Of course, now that you’re here, we have other sides. I made some food too. I know it’s not a true Thanksgiving meal…” Patton said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. 

 

“It sounds great. Can I help with anything?” Logan said, and for the first time that night, he smiled. Patton’s cheeks turned pink enough to match his shirt. 

 

“Y-Yeah! Follow me!” 

 

In the end, Emile ended up setting the table while Logan and Patton cooked. Their tablecloth felt like plastic, and Patton didn’t bother with trying to present the main course as something fancy. (“It’s fried chicken, Logan. It’s the best straight out of the bucket.” Patton had insisted).

 

It was only when they sat down that Logan noted the interesting spread of food on the table. Fried chicken, sweet mashed potatoes, sauteed carrots and green beans, and biscuits. The glasses of wine looked out of place, but then again, this wasn’t a typical Thanksgiving dinner. 

 

He paused after sitting down, unsure of what to do. Usually, people said their thanks before the meal, but Patton and Emile started to serve him immediately. 

 

“It’s harder to be grateful on an empty stomach.” Emile said, picking up on Logan’s thoughts immediately. 

 

“Ah.” Logan said before taking a bite of his potatoes. “Patton, this is really good.” 

 

“Just an old recipe from the only cookbook we own.” Patton waved a hand. “They’re addicting, but I only make them for Thanksgiving. I don’t have much more self control than that.” 

 

“Well, I’m honored.” Logan said with a small, fond smile. Emile made a mental reminder to tell Remy about it when he saw him next, grinning at his lap. 

 

Soon enough, their plates sat empty on the table. Patton looked around and placed his hands on his legs. “Who wants to go first?” 

 

“Nose goes!” Emile called out, and he and Logan touched their noses quickly, leaving Patton to start the tradition of giving thanks. 

 

“Okay! Well, I’m happy that I’m still with the arcade, and I’m pretty grateful for your help with Emile, Logan. Thank you for tutoring him.” Patton said. “And I’m happy that we have food on our table every Thanksgiving, no matter where we are.” 

 

He looked to Emile, who set down his glass. “I’m grateful for the arcade too. I’ve made friends there. And I’m grateful that I get to live with my older brother, even if our parents aren’t around. It’s pretty awesome, even with just the two of us.” 

 

“Aw, kiddo.” Patton said, ruffling Emile’s hair lightly. “Logan, you want to say anything?” 

 

Logan cleared his throat, adjusting his tie. His mouth felt dry now, though he wasn’t sure why. 

 

“I’m grateful that I have people to spend Thanksgiving with this year. I’m grateful for the food you’ve given me, and while the tradition is certainly interesting, it’s not untasteful. While I generally frown upon this holiday because of its historical and cultural implications, it is an excuse to spend time with good friends. So, thank you.” He gave Patton a gentle smile, one Emile didn’t recognize. But he knew the look well; Remy always looked that way when he was with August. 

 

“Why don’t you get Love Actually set up and I’ll clear the table?” Emile offered. “I can make popcorn in the kitchen. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

 

Emile swore he saw Patton mouth a thank you over his shoulder as the two older men went into the living room.

 

If there was one thing he was thankful for, it was that Patton had finally found someone to talk to. 


	34. Q+A 2.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm doing another q+a because we are running low on stock chapters-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANOTHER IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: 
> 
> UPDATES ARE NOW ON FRIDAY NIGHTS. 
> 
> I won't be updating this Friday but next Friday I will. 
> 
> \- Nox

**Q: How did you come up with the idea for the fic?**

 

_Clam: I was up late at night and thought “man imagine Virgil in an arcade uniform that’s hilarious”. And by late at night, I mean 3 AM. And then I wrote the AU._

 

**Q: how do you come up with the amazing chapter titles for this fic?**

 

_Nox: The actual chapter titles are based off of app updates (version 1.0.5, etc). If you're talking about the chapter SUMMARIES, I usually make them up on the spot when I write/post them. They're usually things that I write to get a basic idea of what's going to happen in the chapter._

 

**Q: how long does it normally take to write a chapter?**

 

_Nox: It depends. If I'm really into it I'll write it within an hour or so, if I have no motivation I'll write it over a couple of days. It generally only takes Clam an hour or two to edit. Lately the newer ones have taken longer because we're doing so much character development._

 

**Q: do any of you speak any other languages than English?**

 

_Nox: I don't. I took French for two years and I've taken Spanish for three years, but I can't speak either fluently because of America's education system. bUT I can understand sheet music most of the time._

_Clam: Yep, sheet music for me too!_

 

**Q: How do you plan out the plot?**

 

_Nox: We did that in the very beginning, so we have an outline of where we want to go. However, we do change it while we write it - in the original plot, Remus and Anton hadn't been introduced by Thomas so we had to make changes to make up for that. I should also note that if Thomas introduces any more characters, they will not make it into this fic (as of November 25, 2019). The basics (the ships, the ending) are set in stone, though._

 


	35. 19.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! It’s been an interesting two week hiatus, but we’re back and insanely excited for you to see these new chapters! We’re entering a romance arc, enough said on that~
> 
> Also, someone comes back for this chapter!!!
> 
> Fun fact: These chapters have been incredibly challenging for me to write but Clam has been super supportive through all of this so a big shout out to them for keeping it cool while I slowly lost my mind. 
> 
> We’re getting close to the end and I could not be more happy to finish this journey with all of you. 
> 
> (FOR THOSE READING ON AO3: THE WEBSITE IS GOING UNDER RECONSTRUCTION SO FORMATTING MAY BE WEIRD.)
> 
> Nox

“Hey, Virge, are we doing anything for Valentine’s this year?” Dylan asked one morning as the two of them walked to work. The two of them were in charge of opening, and Virgil shrugged in response, digging in his bag for the keys. 

“I think?” He finally answered when he pulled the keys out. “I don’t know, Patton has something planned for every holiday. Especially if it increases his chances of hanging out with Logan.”

“Ooh, maybe I can use that as an excuse to hang out with Roman.” 

“What’s the sudden interest in Princey?” Virgil said, trying to look aloof while his stomach churned. He fumbled slightly with the keys, and Dylan picked up on it immediately. 

“Is someone jealous?”

“No, that’s not- I was just curious.” Virgil stammered, mumbling the last part. “You know I can’t talk to him anymore, anyways.” 

“Hmm. Maybe I’ll just ask him out instead of waiting for him.” Dylan hummed. Virgil’s cheeks turned a bright scarlet. 

“If you like him, then go for it. Don’t let me stop you.” 

Virgil regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Dylan only smiled brightly at his friend. 

“I’ll ask him today!” 

“Wait-”

“Have a good day, Virge!” Dylan waved him off, practically skipping to the security room. 

Virgil frowned, heading to the breakroom to drop off his things. Of course he was jealous. Dylan KNEW about Virgil’s feelings about what had happened on Halloween. They’d spent a lot of nights together after Halloween, drinking themselves under the table. Dylan wasn’t one to prod, and Virgil was grateful for that. 

This felt weird. Realistically, Virgil knew that he had no claim, no monopoly on Roman, aside from the drunken kiss they’d exchanged. Even then, Roman was drunk so it didn’t count. And still, a small part of him tugged at his heart whenever he looked at the arcade’s prince, repeating mine, mine, mine. 

He tried to push down that feeling whenever it appeared, but it just kept popping up in different places. This was silly, childish. Roman could date anyone he wanted, and Virgil would have no control over that. 

That didn’t mean that he would be okay with it, but one step at a time. 

At the end of the day, Logan called for a staff meeting. Everyone gathered in the break room, with Emile somehow managing to sit on top of the counter in the kitchenette. 

“Normally, I wouldn’t do this, but because of our experiences with holidays, I feel it is necessary to remind you all that even though Valentine’s Day is in two weeks, please be professional in front of customers. Patton, as usual, has, er… _volunteered _to be in charge of decorations.”__

__Thomas hid a smile behind his hand, knowing that Logan had yet again been unable to say no to Patton’s big puppy eyes. Plus, this time around, Logan’s office was the first to be covered in red and pink hearts._ _

__“Can I make a love song playlist?” Emile asked, raising his hand and waving it furiously._ _

__“Of course, you can use the arcade’s music account. I’ll give you the information after this.” Thomas nodded._ _

__As Logan and Thomas spoke, Virgil snuck glances at his coworkers. Remy was already tapping away at his phone, most likely texting August updates on Logan and Patton. Emile met Virgil’s eyes briefly, waving hello. He waved back with a small smile and shifted his eyes to Patton, who was discussing changing up the prize counter for the upcoming holiday with Logan._ _

__And Dylan…_ _

__In the minute that Virgil had averted his eyes from his former roommate, Dylan had struck a conversation with Roman, speaking in low voices and standing far too close for comfort. Any distance was too close. Suddenly, Roman laughed, and Virgil’s eyes softened._ _

__Remy, who was now looking up from his phone, caught Virgil staring. He snapped the poor technician out of it when he spoke._ _

__“Have you considered… talking to him? Since everything?”_ _

__“I haven’t. And I don’t want to turn it into a game of telephone with you and him, either. I guess I’ll just keep staring at him from a distance and hope he’ll notice.”_ _

__Remy bit his lip playfully. “I have an idea.”_ _

__“Does it involve me directly talking to him?”_ _

__“In the end, yeah. But not right now. Come on, August and I’ll take you out to dinner.” Remy nudged him as Logan dismissed everyone. “We have your back.”_ _

__~~~_ _

__An hour later, Virgil was sitting in a booth with August and Remy across from him. All three of them had milkshakes, waiting on their food._ _

__“I have SO many ideas-” Remy started, slamming his hand on the table. The table shook a little._ _

__“Woah there, bud. Try not to break this table, okay?” August said with a laugh, grabbing the edges to stop the wobbling. “You were saying?”_ _

__“So asking him out directly is a no-no, but…” Remy dragged the last word out. “I think we can figure something out.”_ _

__“What’s the point anyways? Dylan’s going to ask him out.” Virgil moved the straw in his shake, looking down. August and Remy exchanged a glance._ _

__“It’s better than not trying.” August said gently. “I don’t know either of you very well, but I can gather you’re both stubborn to make the first move. And isn’t trying a step closer to something happening?”_ _

__“I guess.”_ _

__“And you’re letting us help you. That’s a sign that you want to try.” August gave Virgil a half-smile. “You’re doing pretty well already.”_ _

__The moment was interrupted by Remy, who sighed loudly and looked at his boyfriend dreamily. August stifled a laugh. “I apologize for Remy’s behavior.”_ _

___“HEY!” ____ _

____“Has he been doing that the entire time you’ve been dating?” Virgil asked, suppressing a laugh of his own._ _ _ _

____“Longer.” Remy’s jaw went slack and his face turned red._ _ _ _

____“August!”_ _ _ _

____“Babe, we’re in a restaurant, keep it down.” August said, winking at Virgil as Remy’s face turned redder. “Anyways, I think things will turn out okay. But you never know unless you try, right?”_ _ _ _

____“I… maybe?” Virgil stammered, his eyes shooting down to the table again. “I don’t know if I could handle that type of rejection.”_ _ _ _

____“Aw…” Remy said. He stood, even though he was closer to the wall than the aisle. “Virgil…” He started to reach over the table for a hug._ _ _ _

____“Personal space, babe.” August said, tugging Remy’s shirt to get him to sit back down. “If you’re afraid of rejection, I guess we’ll just have to plan for every response.”_ _ _ _


	36. 19.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is really just fluff sks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone - 
> 
> I've been kinda MIA on ao3 lately but we're back with another chapter! I actually haven't been writing much lately because I have presentation finals at my school and google docs has been a little shit for the past week. BUT! This is part two of the Valentines Day arc and I'm very very very excited!!!
> 
> I just want to remind you all of our ten comment goal. I know it's a lot to ask for, but it feels like we're having less readers... maybe we should stop switching the update days so often. Even if you comment twice, every single one makes a HUGE difference for me and Clam. 
> 
> Nox

Virgil had had enough. 

 

Only 24 hours after Dylan had announced he was going to ask Roman out, Virgil decided he couldn’t deal with it anymore. It seemed as if the two were together at every free moment, and every glance they gave each other made his blood boil. 

 

During one of Dylan’s breaks, Virgil pulled his old friend into the breakdown closet, scowling at him as soon as the door was shut. 

 

“Did you ask him out?” 

 

“Yeah. But-” Virgil seized Dylan’s collar with his hands sharply, before dropping them and taking a step back. His breath was heavy. 

 

“How  _ could  _ you? You knew about Halloween and my feelings for him and you still did it anyways! What happened to friends over everything?” Virgil nearly screamed. 

 

He expected Dylan to be shocked, but instead, Virgil watched a smirk grow on his friend’s face. His anger dissipated into confusion. 

 

“God, you’re dense.” He laughed. “You really think so lowly of me? Have a little faith, Virge.” 

 

“W-what?” Virgil asked, stepping back. “What’s going on?” 

 

“You weren’t going to ask him out, so I did. And you want to know what he said?” 

 

“No, I don’t.”  _ Yes, I do _ . Virgil thought. 

 

“He said that while he was very flattered, he didn’t like me that way. He likes someone else.” 

 

“B-but... Who? Did he tell you?” 

 

Dylan stared  at Virgil blankly. “Think long and hard about that one, bud.” With that, he patted Virgil on the shoulder and stepped out, leaving Virgil alone. 

 

_ It can’t be Logan, or Patton… Thomas maybe, but he mentioned going out with someone last week, so probably not… Remy’s unavailable… _ Virgil’s train of thought sped up.  _ And if it’s not Dylan or Emile, then… _

Oh. 

 

_ Oh.  _

 

He really was dense. 

 

~~~

 

After hours, Patton glanced at Logan, who had moved from his office to keep Patton company as he restocked and decorated the prize counter. Quiet music flowed from the back wall, songs from Patton’s many playlists. Logan’s brows were furrowed as he focused on something on his computer. 

 

_ He’s cute when he’s focused.  _ Patton thought, noting the way Logan had to push up his glasses every few seconds. He must have stared for a minute, maybe longer. It was a good thing Logan was so buried in his work, otherwise Patton would have turned into a stammering mess. 

 

He tried to remember the last time he’d felt this way about someone. So completely head over heels that he couldn’t think straight. Still, he came up empty, staring down at the little boxes of consternation hearts that he was stocking under the counter. 

 

_ BE MINE. I <3 U. IM URS.  _ The little candy hearts that adorned the boxes screamed up at Patton. 

 

It made enough sense. Patton had never been this afraid of someone leaving, not since he and Emile moved out. There was just something about Logan that made him want to squeeze tight and never let go. 

 

Logan had been so kind, so patient, so selfless when it came to the Picanis. He gave both of them jobs, tutored Emile at least once a week, and hell, he even showed up to Thanksgiving and ate everything they’d put in front of him. Patton was sure he owed Logan over a dozen favors by now. He also knew that Logan would never hold him accountable for them. 

 

But Logan didn’t know everything. If anything, he knew the bare minimum of what the two brothers had been through. He didn’t understand why they left.

 

Patton remembered the day they moved out. It still stung. The papers he had to sign were exhausting. As much as he had looked forward to getting out of the house, he couldn’t leave Emile alone with their parents. They did the bare minimum for almost everything, and they never showed up when either of the two brothers needed them most. 

 

They hadn’t even questioned it when Patton brought them the papers. His mother even said that custody was now one less thing to worry about.  

 

There had been no send off; no goodbyes, no hugs, no kisses, no I-love-you’s, no be-safe’s, not even a wave. Their parents walked back into the house after everything was packed and didn’t come out after that. 

 

When they arrived to their new home, there weren’t any texts asking if they were okay. It was complete radio silence. 

 

The first thing the two brothers did was lie down on apartment floor, looking up at the blank tiled ceiling. “Are things going to get better now?” Emile had asked, and Patton had nearly teared up at his words. 

 

“I hope so, kiddo.” 

 

Even now, Patton hoped that he’d never break the promise he made that day. Things would be better. They had to be. 

 

“You’re awfully quiet this evening.” Logan said, snapping Patton out of his head. 

 

“I didn’t want to distract you.” Patton said with a nervous smile. “You wanna take a break and help me out?” 

 

“Sure.”

 

~~~

 

Virgil was on his way out when he spotted Logan and Patton, working together at the prize counter. Both were in their own little world, not noticing Virgil’s heavy footsteps.

 

Patton was storing all the toys in the prize counter display, humming a random tune, when Logan began to assist without comment. Patton started humming an older sounding song and Logan took the other harmony without question.

 

As Logan placed miniature hippos in boxes, he started tapping his feet. Patton started swaying his hips slightly. They weren’t synchronized, but neither seemed to care. 

 

At some point, Patton pulled out a toy trumpet smaller than his hand to continue the tune. Logan watched with adoration, a small, fond smile on his face. The notes Patton was playing were clearly wrong, but neither seemed to care. 

 

By now the toys were all put away but neither Logan nor Patton left. Patton fumbled with the trumpet while Logan looked down at the glass counter, counting the candy. Soon, it became obvious to the other that neither had any work to do. Logan leaned against the counter on the wall, Patton sat on the front counter. 

 

Their voices were quiet, too quiet for Virgil to understand what they were saying. But Patton laughed, and he caught Logan laughing as well.

 

A small sting of bitterness swept through his heart. That could be him and Roman, if only… 

 

Virgil paused the recording on his phone. When they got together, he would send them the video.


	37. 19.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god I forgot to update

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOVE  
> that's it  
> i forgot to update last night   
> I'm sorry  
> don't forget to comment
> 
> Nox

Ten days before Valentines, a gift appeared in Roman’s locker. 

 

Normally, he wouldn’t think much of it. Despite his reputation of being a theater nerd in high school, gifts seemed to appear out of thin air around this time of year. But since the little crown had been given to him a few months ago, he found himself daydreaming of a secret admirer. 

 

So when the first present came, he was eager to start the chase. 

 

The first present was a bundle of playbills that sat neatly in his work locker. They were all from local plays, nothing too big, until he got to the last one. A near mint-condition playbill for the original New York  _ Wicked _ cast. 

 

Roman’s jaw dropped open. Carefully setting the bundle aside, he rummaged through his locker for a note and found… nothing. The corners of his lips pulled down into a frown, and he sighed, putting the playbills into his bag and going on with his daily routine as a security guard. 

 

The next day, his suspicions grew even more. That morning, he found a sceptre bearing a red jewel on top. Just like last time, there was no note. 

 

He’d ask Dylan, Roman decided, and set off to find his fellow security guard. He knocked on the door once, then opened it and knocked on the door frame. 

 

“Dylan, do you know who’s been leaving things in my locker? Could you, perchance, help me review the footage?” 

 

Dylan jumped slightly at Roman’s voice, but quickly slumped in his swivel chair, turning and taking a long sip of his soda. “Sorry, but we don’t have a camera in the staff room.” 

 

“You don’t? Isn’t that a huge blind spot?” 

 

“That hallway is employees only anyway. Why, is someone stealing things?” 

 

“Someone’s been leaving… er, presents, in my locker. I was hoping you could help me figure out who has been doing it.” 

 

“Nope. Good luck.” Dylan said, and Roman was left to his own devices. 

 

On the third day, a small plushie appeared. Miraculously, it was a custom toy: the dragon-witch Roman loved to tell the kids about. This fueled his determination even more. 

 

He went to the next person who he thought could help: Remy. 

 

“Remy, I need your help.” Roman said that afternoon. Remy raised an eyebrow but didn’t look away from the magazine he was reading. 

 

“That’s a first.” Remy said, closing the magazine and looking up at the arcade’s prince. “Sup?” 

 

“Someone’s been leaving things in my locker. I suspect it’s a secret admirer, but I can’t figure out who.” 

 

Remy let out a low whistle. “Really.” He said. 

 

“Yes.” 

 

Remy sighed. “Okay, well, good luck!” He said, opening his magazine and raising it up to his face. 

 

“Remy!” Roman whined, swatting the magazine down. “Seriously!” 

 

“I don’t know, and I definitely don’t envy you. Hey, what I should I wear for my date with August on Valentine’s?” 

 

“Dark purple, but that’s not the point!”

 

“What  _ is _ the point?”

 

Groaning, Roman stalked away, knowing that he wouldn’t get anything from the conversation. Remy stifled a laugh at Roman’s frustration. 

 

On the fourth day, a book of poetry appeared. 

 

On the fifth day, only a card was left. 

 

This excited Roman, and he eagerly opened it to read the message inside. 

 

_ Roman -  _

_ I hope you’ve liked all your gifts. I know you want to know who I am. Truthfully, I’m not sure I really want you to. But it’s not fair to you to keep this whole thing a mystery. You’re bound to find out sometime.  _

_ Tomorrow, there’ll be flowers and more clues. I hope you’re not disappointed with me.  _

 

Roman frowned at the last line. Disappointed? How could he be, when this person had given him so much?   

 

~~~

 

The next morning, Roman looked for flowers in his work locker. But just as the day before, there was only a note. 

 

_ Change of plans. Meet me in the breakdown closet during lunch _ . 

 

Roman furrowed his eyebrows but shrugged, tucking the note in his pocket and going on with his day. 

 

Meanwhile, Virgil had gotten special permission from Logan and Thomas to close Laser tag for the day in favor of resolving the now months long feud. The fairy lights in the small room twinkled warmly, and the bean bags that usually occupied the floor were now tucked away in one of the corners. 

 

Remy and August had wished him good luck that morning. So now Virgil waited, in his best button up shirt, holding a bouquet of red roses, daisies, and purple hyacinths. According to the florist, when the flowers were put together, they asked for forgiveness and hoped for love. He really hoped so, they were expensive.

 

Dylan texted a minute before Roman arrived at the door. Virgil quickly got into position, holding the flowers in front of his face, hoping to hide behind them. 

 

“Hello?” Roman said, stepping into  the room and closing the door behind him. He came face to face with the bouquet. “Um..” 

 

Virgil shoved the flowers toward Roman, squeezing his eyes shut. 

 

“Virgil?” Roman asked softly, taking the flowers and lowering them to see his face. “You’re…” 

 

“Yeah.” Virgil forced out a laugh, eyes shooting down as he ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I did all that.” 

 

“I thought you hated me.” 

 

“I don’t. Listen, I’m not good with this sort of thing, this being vulnerable, and if you speak again I swear I’m gonna lose it. But you kissed me and that has to mean something, doesn’t it? Or was I just the one with the luck of the draw?” Virgil ranted, lifting his eyes to meet Roman’s. They looked like they were searching for something, but Roman wasn’t sure what. “Be honest. Do you feel the same?”

 

“You- I-” Roman’s head hurt. 

 

“Forget it, you can keep the flowers.” Virgil said, pushing past Roman to walk out. Before he could, however, Roman’s hand wrapped around his wrist, and pulled Virgil back to him. Careful and calculated, Roman tilted his head so his lips slotted against Virgil’s perfectly. 

 

When Roman pulled away, the two froze, looking at each other in bewilderment. 

 

Virgil’s head was screaming, but that didn’t matter anymore.

 

He leaned in for another kiss. 

  
  



	38. 19.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know what they say, comedy comes in threes!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I nearly forgot to update again whoops-  
> I've been in a sort of writing funk and haven't been looking at your comments too often - for that, I apologize. I'm thinking of responding to your comments in the ending notes, but maybe that's too much. I don't know.  
> The holidays are always a hard time for fanfic, but I'm so amazed at the amount of you that commented! Truly, that was the best present for me this holiday season. 
> 
> Nox

Virgil thought it was just going to be another week-night at the arcade. Everything would be normal, no more chaos and drama…

 

That idea was vetoed the minute the Samson brothers appeared. 

 

After the Thanksgiving fiasco, Dylan had sent the video of Roman and Duke in the ball pit to the arcade group chat. 

 

Not more than a few hours after he and Roman had kissed again in the closet, Roman burst into the control room. The arcade was mostly empty now, but they still had a few hours to go before they could close. 

 

“Hey, so remember that video that Dylan sent over Thanksgiving? With me and my brother?” 

 

Virgil practically jumped out of his seat. He’d been trying to process everything that had happened earlier that afternoon, but apparently, that wasn’t on Roman’s agenda. 

 

“Yes…” Virgil said slowly, not sure where this was going. 

 

“Well, fun fact, I’m a triplet.” 

 

“Okay…” 

 

“And my brothers are coming to visit. Like, now.” Roman ran off, leaving a shocked Virgil in the room. 

 

“PRINCEY!” Virgil screamed, chasing after the security guard. 

 

“It’s not my fault my brothers have the worst timing!” Roman screamed back, and customers looked to see a man with dark eyeshadow under his eyes chasing the arcade prince. 

 

“WE LITERALLY JUST KISSED-” Virgil started to scream again before Logan reached out his arms and yanked the two men into his office. 

 

“What on earth are you two doing?” Logan demanded. “There are still people inside the arcade!” 

 

“Is it just me or is mad Logan seriously a turn on?” Roman said, trying to switch the topic. Virgil smacked Roman in the shoulder. 

 

“I take it you two made up? What’s going on now?” 

 

“My brothers are coming.” Roman said, his breath finally catching up to him. He checked his phone. “And they’re here.” 

 

“First of all, you’re not even supposed to be checking your phone on the clock-” Logan started, but Emile poked his head in through the door. 

 

“Hey, Roman’s brothers are here, what’s the protocol?” 

 

“There is none. Just…” Logan groaned. “Go deal with it, please. We’ll discuss this later.” 

 

The three of them raced out to the main area, where Anton and Duke were standing, both with suitcases. 

 

Anton Samson was certainly a sight to behold. Compared to Roman and Duke’s loud fashion tastes, Anton seemed to prefer neutral colors. He stood in a black turtleneck and mirror sunglasses, musing about the arcade aesthetic quietly to his brother.

 

“Anton, Duke. Why are you here?” Roman said, putting on his best customer service face despite the fact that the rest of his body made it look like he wanted to strangle his brothers. 

 

“We had to tell you the news in person. We’re moving here!” Duke said, jumping in for a hug. 

 

“That- Is this a joke?” Roman stuttered, staggering back from the force of Duke’s hug. “Please tell me I’m dreaming.” 

 

“Your criteria for whether something applies as a joke is saddening, Roman. I thought you knew better.” Anton said, lowering his glasses. 

 

“Says the one wearing a scarf in Florida.” Roman shot back. 

 

“Charming. I see you haven’t lost your spine.” Anton chuckled. “Where are your manners? Won’t you introduce us?” 

 

The others watched from the prize counter, not sure what to make of this scene. 

 

“There are three of them!” Patton whispered loudly, and Thomas bit his lip to hide his laugh. 

 

“That isn’t important. Here, just take these game tokens and don’t cause any trouble, please.” Roman said, handing them each a handful from the coin counter and pushing them in different directions. 

 

“Those are your brothers?” Virgil asked with a smirk.

 

“The other two triplets.” Roman groaned.

 

Virgil whistled. “What did I get into?” 

 

“You didn’t get into anything, they’re- why? Do you want to get into something?” 

 

“Can I put an innuendo here?” Virgil smirked as Roman blushed. “Here’s what I meant: What did I get into by agreeing to a date with you?” 

 

“A date? You didn’t tell me there was-” 

 

“Valentines. Cineplex down the street at seven. I’ll pay for popcorn.” Virgil said, walking off to where Remy was and high-fiving him. Roman’s mouth was left agape. 

 

“So, is like, _everyone_ around here fucking? ‘Cause I’m getting that vibe.” Duke said, seemingly popping up from nowhere. Roman jumped and then rolled his eyes, looking at his brother’s mischievous smile. 

 

“Back to work, you all.” Logan said in the distance.

 

 _“Puh-lease_ tell me that Nerds 1 and 2 are hooking up.” Duke said, pointing at Logan and Patton. Roman immediately smacked Duke’s hand down. 

 

“Don’t point at them!” He hissed. “And no, they’re not. At least, not that I’m aware of. Or, not yet...” 

 

“ _Ooh_ , _this_ will be fun!” Duke squealed, running off. 

 

“Duke!” Roman yelped, chasing after his brother. 

 

~~~

 

Roman had forgotten how exhausting it was to be around family. Of course, they had just been together for the holidays, but even then, he had the family dog to use as an escape from everyone. 

 

Here, he had nothing to use as an escape. 

 

As of right now, Logan and Patton were talking at the prize counter. Roman couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Logan’s back was turned to the rest of the arcade. 

 

While Anton was hanging around Remy, Duke was in one of the aisles, dancing with a sign held up to Patton. As Roman got closer, he saw that the sign read “KISS KISS KISS”. He watched as Patton spotted the sign and blushed bright scarlet. Logan tilted his head, a tell tale sign he was confused. Before he could turn around to see the sign, Roman tackled Duke to the ground, landing with a loud _thump._  

 

“Seriously? Not here.” Roman hissed. “Don’t try to mess up that relationship. I’m working, so stop trying to cause trouble. You’re a fully grown adult.” 

 

Duke pouted and Roman rolled his eyes. 

 

The next time his brothers tried something, it was Anton. Logan had disappeared into his office and Anton struck up a conversation with Patton. 

 

“So… Patton. Are you dating anyone?” Anton asked coyly, right as Roman walked by. Before Patton could answer, Roman grabbed Anton by the shoulders. 

 

“Hey, Anton, why don’t you inspect Retro Road?” Roman said, pushing him away. 

  
 _Temporary,_ Roman had to remind himself. This was _only_ temporary.


	39. 19.4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you wanted logicality so here it is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing the final chapters the other day and I'm gonna cry I swear- 
> 
> But anyways I totally forgot this chapter existed and then I saw the beginning and was like fUCK-  
> I'm sorry  
> (I'm not)
> 
> you all really pulled through with the comments and I really hope you all continue to do that, it made me smile so much!   
> see you next week :) 
> 
> Nox

“Happy Valentines!” Patton said, skipping into the arcade. “Everyone gather ‘round, I have cards!” On top of his head, there was a red headband with hearts attached to thin-wire springs. They bounced up and down as he skipped. 

 

“Aw, Patton, you didn’t have to do that!” Thomas said, flashing a sly smirk in Logan’s direction. The other man coughed, trying to control his reddening face.

 

“Of course I had to! Just because you don’t have a partner doesn’t mean you can’t get cards on Valentines.” Patton said. “Come on, hurry up! We open in five!” 

 

“This one’s for you, and you, and-” Patton picked up the last card and walked over to Logan, his hands behind his back. The flustered manager was a few feet away from the others, checking the time on his watch every ten seconds. 

 

“This one’s for you, Logan.” Patton said cheerfully, handing him the card. 

 

He looked down at the front of the card. On a light blue background, Patton had written  _ You remind me of the 21 letters of the alphabet.  _

 

Logan raised an eyebrow and lifted his gaze to Patton. “Please tell me you didn’t insert one of your puns in here. I know you know that the alphabet is twenty-six letters long.” 

 

“Have a nice day, Logan!” Patton said, walking away.

 

Logan sighed, walking down to his office. He’d look at it later. 

 

Screw it. 

 

He’d look at it now. 

 

Once he had safely hidden in his office, he opened the card. In Patton’s handwriting, the inside of the card finished the sentence:  _ Oh shoot, I forgot U R A Q T! Happy Valentines, Logan! _

 

_ “Yer-act _ ?” Logan’s eyebrows knit together. “That’s not a new word, is it?” 

 

This was  _ Patton _ , Logan reminded himself. Patton used text lingo a lot. Maybe…

 

“Oh shoot, I forgot you are a… cutie?” He felt his cheeks heating up as he read the sentence. Normally, he would have been focused on the grammatical errors, but this was different. 

 

Quickly, Logan shoved the card into his desk and lowered his head, burying his face into his arms.  _ This is a mess.  _ I’m _ a mess.  _

 

~~~

 

Thomas found Logan in his office later that day, looking at his computer to calculate costs for the month. Logan was so focused that he nearly startled when he realized Thomas was in the room. 

 

“Is this a business matter or a personal one?” Logan asked, closing his laptop. 

 

“Depends on how you look at it.” Thomas said, leaning back in his seat. 

 

“If it’s a personal matter, then I’d prefer you speak with me about it later.”

 

“Fine, it’s a business matter.” 

 

“Go on.” 

 

“It’s about Patton.” 

 

“Thomas, I told you if it was a personal matter-”

 

_ “Listen to me.” _ Thomas said. “It’s clear you both feel the same way, and I know you hate the idea, but you and I both know that you’ll figure out a way that it won’t affect your work ethic. I mean, it’s affecting your work  _ now. _ So, why won’t you ask him out?” 

 

“I… don’t know. It’s just never been the right time.”

 

Thomas looked at Logan. He knew what the real reason was, but he’d hoped Logan would trust him enough to say it out loud. 

 

Logan had only accepted himself during college, having grown up in a relatively conservative family. They were always welcoming, but it wasn’t anything they liked to talk about. 

 

Thomas had been the one to expose Logan to the queer community, and even then, it had been a struggle. He’d vehemently rejected it, saying that just because he didn’t find attraction in girls didn’t automatically mean he was attracted to guys. He even went so far as to suggest he couldn’t find attraction in anyone (which, in fairness, was valid). Matters were made even worse when Logan realized that there was another term to describe his lack of attraction. In addition to identifying as gay, Logan also realized he was demisexual, only finding attraction in people he had a close relationship with. 

 

When Logan finally did find someone he was attracted to, he tried to ask him out. He really did. 

 

But the guy didn’t seem to understand. 

 

Logan got him flowers, chocolate, everything he really could. And even so, they were all treated as friendly, platonic gestures. 

 

Thomas had watched the whole thing go down, and since then, Logan had never tried again. 

 

“Lo…” Thomas said, concern in his eyes. “You have to take the risk at some point.” 

 

“It’s not the right time.” Logan shook his head.    
  
“When will it be?” 

 

For the first time since college, Thomas watched Logan falter, almost shrinking into himself. 

 

“I don’t know.” 

 

~~~

 

“Patton, may I speak of a personal matter?” Logan said after the others had left. Emile was somewhere cleaning up, and Patton remained at the prize counter, taking stock as he did at the end of every day. 

 

“Of course! You know I’m always willing to listen.” 

 

“I, um, well.. Suppose, hypothetically, that you were attracted to someone.” 

 

“Ooh, hypotheticals!” Patton clapped his hands together and leaned forward on the counter. 

 

“And suppose, hypothetically, that the last time you tried, er,  _ asking _ someone out they didn’t understand. Would you try again with this new person, knowing your failure to express emotion properly from before?”  

 

“Well… Sometimes people don’t know how to show their feelings. And that’s okay, they’re learning. I’d try to be clear and worse case scenario, they just say no.” Patton shrugged. 

 

“What if you know you’ve fallen too deep?” 

 

Patton knew how to read between the lines better than most. Emile always tried to be vague when discussing his feelings, the same way Logan was being right now. 

 

Besides, he’d seen too many rom-coms to know where this was going. 

 

“What if…” Patton started, realizing he had full control of this situation. “What if they feel the same way?” 

 

“Oh, no, that’s not possible, I mean, you- I-  _ you _ , can never know, I mean statistically there are more than two outcomes-” Logan rambled, freezing the moment he felt something against his cheek. 

 

A kiss. 

 

Patton stepped back, looking at a wide-eyed Logan. 

 

“What if..” The words died on Logan’s lips, processing what had happened. He stepped closer to Patton, finishing the sentence with his eyes. 

 

He tilted his head slightly, about to move closer…

 

A few feet away, a loud shout, a thud, and the subsequent groan occurred in one of the aisles. “Ugh..” 

 

The two men jumped apart quickly, remembering that they weren’t completely alone. Logan’s eyes landed on Emile, who had somehow managed to trip over the dustpan on the ground. 

 

_ What a mess indeed.  _


	40. 19.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finally some good fucking f l u f f

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody, 
> 
> It's been an interesting week, but I do have one note to start on!
> 
> I've noticed a lot of people have been commenting that they don't usually ship logicality/prinxiety but this fic makes them ship it and honestly that's the highest amount of praise for me~
> 
> I hope you all had a good day and enjoy the chapter! Shout out to the one person who binge read and commented as they did so, that was really fucking funny and I loved all of the spam. 
> 
> Nox

Roman stood at the entrance of Cineplex, checking his watch every 5 seconds. There were red roses in his other hand, and he’d been waiting for only a minute or two before Virgil appeared. 

 

Virgil had insisted that Roman meet him there, preferring to avoid the awkwardness of Roman coming over for the first time. Still, Roman wanted to set this date off on the right foot, and he figured flowers were the best to start. 

 

“For me?” Virgil asked, gesturing to himself. 

 

“It’s only fair.” Roman said with a nervous smile, handing him the flowers. “I have the tickets already, so we can just walk right in.”

 

“Full of surprises tonight, are we?” Virgil smirked in attempt to hide his smile. “Come on, let’s get some popcorn.” 

 

He held out his hand, which Roman nervously but quickly accepted, and together they walked inside. Virgil seemed nonchalant, but inside, he was practically squealing. 

 

“So, what did you pick for us to watch?” He asked, stopping abruptly in order to wait in line. His hand dropped, and Roman nearly whined at the loss of contact. 

 

“I was hoping you’d be interested in the new George Hitchcopalucas film.” Roman said, fumbling with the tickets in his hands. “I don’t know, I can get a refund-”

 

“It’s perfect.” Virgil flashed him a smile. “I’ve been waiting for this movie to come out.” 

 

“O-oh, really? I’m glad.” 

 

Virgil had never seen Roman this nervous. Still, it was comforting to know that he was not the only one who was anxious about this date. He reached for Roman’s hand, carefully taking it in his and squeezing it gently. 

 

“Don’t be nervous. It’s only me.” 

 

Roman smiled shakily. 

 

 “Do you want to come with me to get popcorn, or do you want to wait at the side?” Virgil asked, handing the tickets to an employee. He heard a soft  _ On your left, Theater 5 _ in his ear, but he ignored it, pulling Roman forward. 

 

“You with me?” Virgil asked as they stood in front of the concessions stand. 

 

“Yeah. I just…” 

 

“What?”

 

“I just can’t believe I’m on a date with you.” 

 

~~~

 

“Dinner?” Virgil asked as they exited the theater, his fingers once again intertwined with Roman’s. “I know it’s a little late, but I can pay-” 

 

“Nonsense, there’s a place I like nearby.” Apparently, during the movie Roman had found his confidence once more (and it was definitely not because Virgil had his head on Roman’s shoulder for the last third of the film). Carefully, the two of them navigated through the city streets until they reached a small, hole-in-the-wall diner wedged in between a dry cleaners and a coffee chain. 

 

“Crescent Diner?” Virgil asked, looking up at the old-fashioned neon blue sign. “Huh.” The first “e” was a little dimmer against the concrete building.

 

Roman’s hand moved immediately to the back of his neck. “We can go somewhere else-” 

 

“Come on.” Virgil said, tugging him forward. “It’s perfect.” 

 

The two of them ducked into the warmth of the diner, stopping at the front counter to be seated. “I didn’t know diners like this still existed.” Virgil mumbled in awe, looking around. 

 

“You like it?” Roman said, eyes brighter now. 

 

“I’m not all ‘gloom and doom’.” Virgil rolled his eyes, but his smile was wide. 

 

“Ah, Roman! Haven’t seen you ‘round these parts in a while.” A waitress said, her grey hair swishing in her ponytail. “Someone special?” The woman winked, and Virgil thought he heard her snicker as Roman’s face reddened. “Aw, sweetheart. Follow me, I’ll take y’all to your table.” 

 

“What’s your name, honey?” She asked, turning to look at the pair. 

 

Oddly enough, Virgil wasn’t nervous to introduce himself. “Virgil.” 

 

“I’m Adrienne, a real pleasure to meet ya. Over here.” She guided them to a booth near the window, waiting until they were settled to speak again. “Alright gentlemen, I’ll be back to take your drink orders in a few.” 

 

“Favorite restaurant?” Virgil asked, quirking up an eyebrow while he picked up the menu. 

 

“I used to come here all the time after auditions. Not so much anymore.” 

 

“Why, did you stop acting?” 

 

Roman shrugged. “Acting will always be something close to my heart. But unfortunately, I think I have to face the reality that I’ll never make something out of it. I tried and I just never caught a break.” 

 

“But why settle for the arcade if you know it could be something bigger?” 

 

Roman paused for a moment, looking down. “There’s a huge casting call coming up. My agent keeps telling me I should, but I’m not… what if I’m only setting myself up for disappointment?” 

 

“You’re already ensuring disappointment if you don’t try in the first place.” Virgil pointed out. Sensing Roman didn’t want to talk about it anymore, he switched the subject. “Hey, what’s your favorite thing here?” 

 

He smiled as Roman straightened up. “Well, the BLT is pretty good but my favorite is the Crescent Burger.”    
  
Virgil leaned forward. “What makes it special?”    
  
“Different sauce, bell peppers. Not much, really.” To Virgil, Roman seemed to be shrinking because of nervousness. It was equally confusing and adorable to see Roman this muted. 

 

“Sounds good.” 

 

“Y’all ready?” Adrienne appeared at the edge of their table. 

 

“The usual for me.” Roman said with a smile, handing her his menu. 

 

“One Crescent Burger and a chocolate malt shake! And you, hon?” She shifted her gaze to Virgil. 

 

“I’ll have the same.” Virgil said, his smile matching Roman’s. 

 

“Aren’t you just charming! Those Crescents will be out in a jiffy.” 

 

After she left, Virgil laughed. “I haven’t heard that phrase in a while. In a jiffy.”

 

“Like peanut butter.” Roman blurted out. For some reason, he was starting to lose his mind around his date. 

 

“In a Jiffy peanut butter.” Virgil said, laughing again. “I like that.” 

 

The two of them didn’t go back to talking about acting until Roman had driven Virgil at home. “I’ll walk you up to your apartment.” Roman promised, turning off the car and climbing out the driver’s side. 

 

“You really don’t have to, my apartment’s a mess-” 

 

“I’m gonna do it anyways.” 

 

Once they’d stepped into the elevator, Virgil became less confident, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

 

“For the record,” He said, catching Roman’s attention, “I think you should take the opportunity. If you need to practice with someone, I could help.” 

 

Virgil lead Roman down the hall to his door, and then stopped, fiddling with the keys in his hands. 

 

“I guess this is the part where we say good night.” Roman smiled half-heartedly. He wasn’t sure if he wanted this to end, ever. 

 

“Yep.” Virgil finally found his house keys and pushed them in, unlocking his door. “I’m not good at goodbyes, so, bye.” He was about to slip inside his darkened apartment when Roman wrapped a warm hand around his wrist. 

 

“Do you want to go out again some time? I’ll pick a place and we can walk around.” He offered, watching Virgil’s face soften into a grin. 

 

“Definitely.” 


	41. 20.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for logicality to talk about feelings for fuck's sake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone,   
> Sorry for the late update, senior year has been crazy busy and I actually haven't been able to write much. Nevertheless, here's a short chapter to tide you all over for next week.  
> Unbelievably, this is the last chapter before we start to wrap things up here at the Mind Palace Arcade, but don't worry! Clam and I will have a project launching shortly after involving Analogical and found family, so stick around for that! I'm so proud of this story and I thank you all for reading this far. 
> 
> Nox

**Operation Smooch**

 

_ [Emile]: so we have a situation. _

 

_ [Dylan]: Oh ffs what’s happening now? _

 

_ [Remy]: IS IT LOGAN AND PATTON _

 

_ [Virgil]: ...who else could it be? _

 

_ [Thomas]: Do they need a dose of laser tag?  _

 

_ [Emile is typing] _

 

_ [Dylan is typing] _

 

_ [Remy is typing] _

 

_ [Virgil is typing] _

 

_ [Emile]: NO _

 

_ [Dylan]: I thought it was proved last time that it didn’t work _

 

_ [Roman]: well it kind of did?? _

 

_ [Virgil]: no it didn’t. _

 

_ [Roman]: no it didn’t _

 

_ [Remy]: ^ but we still need to get them to talk… _

 

_ [Thomas]: Well, Logan’s too stubborn to ask for help OR to reveal any feelings so we need to do something. _

 

_ [Emile]: … can we turn the breakdown closet into our new problem solving room? That way they won’t have so many eyes on them.  _

 

_ [Remy has added August to the chat.] _

 

_ [August]: what are you even doing _

 

~~~

 

“Hey, Logan!” Emile called over during one slow weekday evening. “Can you help me with something in the breakdown closet?” 

 

“My help specifically?” Logan asked. That was rare; usually the others could handle things on their own without asking him or Thomas. 

 

_ “Yes.” _ Emile exaggerated. “Come on!” 

 

Five minutes before, Thomas had coaxed Patton into the closet with promises of a surprise in store. Puppies, kittens, baby animals... Something of the sort. 

 

(Patton knew what was going on. He’d seen Emile furiously texting and conspiring with the others a few days before. They weren’t sneaky, but he appreciated their efforts.)

 

(Although, he wasn’t sure if Logan would feel the same about this situation.)

 

So he waited on the tiny loveseat in the closet, hands wringing themselves. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to act confused, but if the others needed convincing, he would. His skills were nowhere near Roman’s, though he tried (which was more than most of the employees at the arcades could say when it came to acting. No offense, of course). 

 

Logan walked into the closet a few minutes later, his eyebrows furrowed. “Emile, I don’t see what the problem is-” 

 

The door slammed shut behind him, and the sound of something heavy being dragged was heard from the other side. 

 

“Emile?” Logan asked, nearly jumping when he spotted Patton. “Oh. Hello, Patton.” 

 

“We’re going to be stuck in here for a good twenty minutes, you know.” Patton said with an awkward laugh. “They have this grand plan.” His hand-wringing became rougher.

 

“A new method of solving problems?” Logan sat down on the couch next to Patton, who’s cheeks were beginning to redden. 

 

“Something like that.”

 

“And the problem is…” Patton didn’t respond, waiting for Logan to figure it out on his own. His face only reddened more. 

 

“They want us to converse about what happened on Valentine’s?” Logan was trying to keep a neutral face while avoiding eye contact. He knew what was going on, but the longer he could avoid talking about it-

 

The longer he could avoid talking about his feelings, the better it would be for everyone involved. 

 

Patton didn’t deserve someone so confused and unfamiliar. 

 

Logan looked at Patton, watching the way the other man’s eyes drooped a little. 

 

“I like you a lot, Logan.” Patton said quietly. “I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me and Emile, and I think it would take a while to tell you every moment, every little thing I’m grateful for.” 

  
Logan sucked in a breath, waiting for the But, waiting for the disappointment. 

 

Patton continued. “It’s okay if you don’t feel the same or if you’re still confused. I might be sad about it for a little while, but it’s okay. I can’t expect you to feel the same way that I do. It’s not like I’ve changed your life radically.” 

 

He lowered his gaze to his hands, not sure what to expect now. He froze when Logan started to speak. 

 

“You’ve changed my life more than you think.” Logan’s words were soft, and Patton clung to them tightly in his mind. “You’ve shown me compassion and a sense of belonging. Something I’ve seldom experienced up until now.” 

 

Logan sighed, a low huff. “But I’m worried that I may not be adequate. I don’t understand affection as well as you, and I fear I might test your patience often. I’ve never experienced something like a... romantic relationship.” 

 

“Could we try?” 


	42. 21.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> time to wrap shit up.
> 
> Roman goes back to chasing dreams, and Virgil isn't so sure of their future anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of the end jesus
> 
> I'm so unbelievably lucky to have you all supporting this. I still haven't finished writing everything (I'm actually low on stock chapters oop) but we're at the final stretch. Thank you so much. 
> 
>  
> 
> Peace and love,   
> Nox

“Take one, Roman.” Virgil said behind the camera. 

 

“Hello, my name is Roman Samson, and I will be auditioning for the role of Taylor Johnson.” 

 

_ “Jameson.”  _

 

~~~

 

“Take two.” 

 

“Hello, my name is Remus Samson and-”

 

“Nope, try again.” 

 

~~~

 

“Take sixteen.”

 

“Hello, my name is Ant-  _ god fucking dammit _ .” 

 

~~~

 

“Okay, I think we have something.” Virgil said, five hours later. “I’m not saying it’s good. I’m saying it’s something. You’ve reached my compliment limit for the day.” 

 

Roman laughed, kissing Virgil’s cheek. “Thank you for being so patient with me and this.” 

 

“I didn’t have a choice.” 

 

“Yeah, you did.” Roman’s smile grew bigger as he gave his boyfriend another kiss. 

 

“So, what happens after you send it?” Virgil said, his eyes finally drawing away from the laptop. He leaned back from the coffee table in Roman’s living room. 

 

“They review it.” Roman shrugged. “I set myself up for disappointment, and I go to the next audition.”    
  
“Tough break.” Virgil whistled through his teeth. “Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’ll do great.” 

 

“I hope so.” Roman sighed, picking up the computer from the table and opening it. After a few minutes of clicking and typing, his laptop made a sound and he shut it quickly. 

 

“Now we wait.” 

 

~~~

 

Virgil wasn’t sure what one was supposed to do while waiting for a life-changing decision to occur, but he likened it to the way he waited for his college letter in high school. All he needed to do was to distract Roman for a little bit. 

 

Work kept the both of them busy for most of the day, but at night, Virgil made sure to keep Roman’s mind away from the call back. They played card games, cooked together, laughing and kissing the other silly. 

 

Dylan noticed that the world seemed a little brighter when they were together now, and it did wonders for the arcade’s morale. Roman wasn’t the only one waiting for a decision; Emile was supposed to getting responses from colleges any day now. Patton made sure that Emile never stayed too solitary at the arcade, so his appearances at the laser tag entrance were few. 

 

One mid-spring evening, when Roman and Virgil were walking down the street, Roman’s phone went off. He nearly jumped, and the corners of Virgil’s mouth lifted. Since submitting the audition, Roman had been extremely jumpy whenever his phone rang. 

 

“It’s an unknown number.” Roman hissed to Virgil. 

 

“Answer it!” Virgil hissed back, and Roman quickly answered the call, stepping a few feet away. 

 

“Hello… Yes, this is he… You-you mean it? Thank you, thank you so much! I’ll get the details from my agent… Thank you so much. Talk soon.” He pocketed his phone and returned to Virgil with a wide grin. 

 

“What? Is everything good? Did you get it?” Virgil asked, frantically searching Roman’s eyes for a clue. 

  
“I got a callback.” Roman whispered, then louder: “I got a freaking call back!” He said, jumping up and down. “They picked like, twenty out of the three  _ thousand _ that auditioned and they want me to fly to LA next week for the second audition!” 

 

“That’s awesome!” Virgil exclaimed, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. “I’m so proud of you.” He said, voice muffled by Roman’s shoulder. 

 

The next few hours were a whirlwind; of course, the other arcade employees found out in a matter of minutes, and after them, Roman’s parents. The two of them grabbed a celebratory drink and Japanese food before returning to Virgil’s apartment.

 

“You got the job.” Virgil said in the midst of their third re-watch of Tangled, as if he still couldn’t believe it. “I’m really, really proud of you.” 

 

“I don’t know yet. There still could be a chance that it doesn’t work out.” 

 

“Right. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I know you’ll get it.” 

 

“Virge..” 

 

“And if you don’t, you can keep auditioning. One door closes, another one opens, right?” 

 

“I don’t want to leave, if I get the part.” 

 

“But it’s your dream, why wouldn’t you-” 

 

“I like being here.” 

 

“You’re comfortable here. Here is safe.” Virgil argued, while Roman shifted his body to rest his head on Virgil’s chest. He hummed as Virgil’s fingers played with his hair. “But when you’re comfortable, you don’t take risks. You’ll daydream about what could have been.” 

 

“But what about you?” Roman asked, lifting his head and shifting again to look up at Virgil, who chuckled quietly. 

 

“An engineer can find a job anywhere. If I go back to school, maybe I could land a job in Silicon Valley.” He threaded his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair. “Leave the worrying to me, huh?” 

 

“Never.” Roman smiled up at him, and Virgil felt at peace. 

 

~~~

 

“How’s LA?” Virgil asked from the arcade late on Monday night. Roman had left the day before, promising to call and tell everybody the results. He smiled down at his phone as he leaned on the prize counter. 

 

“It’s amazing here. Man, I wish you could see it. The observatory up on Griffith Park has a nice view of the city.” 

 

“Just take a lot of pictures, and you can show me later.” 

 

“Enough about me, how was my first day away from the arcade?” Virgil rolled his eyes. The one day Roman decided to be humble was the one time Virgil wanted to hear him talk. 

 

Remarkably, the arcade carried on without its prince. Unfortunately, it meant that Duke was filling in for Roman, in a sense. 

 

Logan and Dylan agreed that it was best for the Roman’s brother to stay in the back camera room while Dylan took over Roman’s security duties. Surprisingly, Duke and Dylan got along quite well. 

 

Still, the arcade felt different. Quieter, even. Despite the fact that Virgil remained in a secluded section of the building for most of the day, he noticed Roman’s absence more than he wanted to admit. 

 

Only a few months of dating had turned Virgil into a complete sap. 

 

“Um, it was fine.” Virgil said, watching Emile run across the arcade to deliver something. “Duke actually worked well with Dylan. I think they like being together.” 

 

“Gone for one day and my brother’s replaced me.” Roman joked. 

 

“So tomorrow’s the big day?” 

 

“Yeah, I guess. It’s only five here, so I was thinking of getting some room service or something and then falling asleep.” 

 

“Sounds like a plan.” 

 

Roman sighed suddenly. “Have I told you that I wish you were here already?” 

 

“Several times.” 

 

On the other side of the call, Roman unlocked his hotel room, practically collapsing on the bed as soon as he could. 

 

The day had been fun, but Roman couldn’t help but feel alone in this new city. Sure, he knew people who lived in Los Angeles, but they weren’t as close in the same way he was close with the others from the arcade. 

 

There was only one thing he could think of as he toured the City of Angels: 

 

_ I wish Virgil were here.  _


	43. 21.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here comes the angst train woOSH

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone,   
> Thank you for your kind comments last week, it was a hard week this week too but I managed to write a chapter and a half today so I really think I'll have written the ending chapters by March/April. It's been a weird couple of weeks but we're building up stock chapters again and I'm so excited.   
> I love you all - don't be afraid to send asks on @tooattachedtofiction on tumblr! 
> 
> Nox

Roman went into radio silence for the rest of the trip. To be fair, he was supposed to hop on a flight less than a few hours after his audition, but even the morning of, he was quiet. 

 

True to his word, Virgil picked him up from the airport, and nearly crashed the car several times before they reached Roman’s apartment. 

 

“So? How was it?”

 

“I mean, I think it went well. I still need to wait for another call back, considering the role is a main role for a major movie. I don’t know how many auditions I’ll need to go through before I know I’ve got the part.” Virgil grabbed Roman’s suitcase from the trunk, placing it on the ground before starting to lock up the car. 

 

“Did they say anything?” 

 

“Hollywood auditions are different than what I expected, but that’s normal. I mean, La La Land was pretty spot on about the audition process. But they were smiling when I finished, so I’m hoping for the best.” 

 

Roman unlocked his door swiftly and pulled Virgil inside, tugging him closer until they landed, sprawled out on the couch, their legs tangled together. 

 

“Three days wasn’t short enough.” Roman breathed out, trying to be closer, closer. He pulled Virgil in for a long, needy kiss, gently locking his arms around the other man’s neck.

 

“We can’t even spend three days without each other.” Virgil laughed as Roman started to plant kisses all over his face. Finally, Virgil pushed himself off of Roman with another laugh. 

 

“Go take a shower, I’ll be here when you get back. Takeout?” 

 

“Pizza!” Roman called out as he disappeared into his room. 

 

~~~

 

It was only when the night was over and Virgil returned home that reality slapped him in the face. 

 

What if Roman got this job? Would he move away? For how long? Permanently? Would the movie do well? And if it did, would he never come back?

 

And what if Roman asked Virgil to come with him? To drop everything, learn about a new industry? One that was shady and full of rumors and high stakes? Would he say yes? Would he leave the arcade? 

  
  
Was he ready to leave his  _ home? _

 

The rational part of his brain took over, washing away the damage of the beer that had slowly made its way down to his stomach during dinner. 

 

_ That’s a lot of what if’s, V. You’re getting ahead of yourself. Nothing’s set in stone yet. _

 

So he tucked his thoughts away and fell into a dreamless sleep. 

 

This continued to happen every night for the next month. Roman flew back and forth, each time leaving for only a few days at most. Duke started working part time under Dylan’s direction. 

 

The day the news arrived, they had planned to eat out at some new restaurant Roman had found. Roman hadn’t wanted to answer it, but Virgil urged him to, knowing how important this was to him. 

 

He stood far enough that Virgil couldn’t hear what Roman was saying, but only minutes later did Roman return with a grin. 

  
“So?” Virgil asked excitedly. “What happened?” 

 

“I got the part.” Roman whispered. 

 

“You got it?!” 

 

“I GOT THE FREAKING PART!” Roman exclaimed, drawing looks from other customers. 

 

“That’s amazing, I’m so proud of you!” Virgil said, immediately jumping in for a hug. “You did it, babe.” 

 

When they finally sat down, Roman had happy tears in his eyes. “We’ll be filming in Toronto, although we still need to wait for everyone else to get cast which could take a while, maybe up to a few months. But isn’t that amazing? I’ll be the leading man!” 

 

Virgil felt his stomach lurch. “Toronto? Isn’t that in Canada?” 

 

“Well, yeah. I mean, a lot of sets will be outdoors, I think, though we’ll be in LA doing some CGI stuff too.” 

 

“Wow. Los Angeles. How long is the shoot?” 

 

“I don’t know. I hope we won’t have to do reshoots, but you can never tell nowadays.” 

 

_ “Ha, _ right.” 

 

The two stumbled around some small talk for the rest of the evening, both unsure of what to say. 

 

When they said good night, Virgil hugged Roman a little tighter than usual. If Roman noticed, he didn’t mention it. 

 

~~~

 

“You’re moping.” Remy noticed when Virgil walked into the employee locker room the following morning. 

 

Virgil scoffed, refusing to meet Remy’s suspicious glare. “I’m  _ not _ moping.” 

 

“You obviously heard the news.” Remy said. “I’m surprised Roman hasn’t noticed you not jumping in the air with joy.” Virgil laughed drily at that, shoving his things in his locker. 

 

“It took two years for us to get together, and it’ll take two days to break us apart.” Virgil shook his head, slamming the locker door and turning his gaze to the floor. 

 

“Well, I think that’s a bit of an  _ exaggeration-” _

  
“What if he wants me to move to LA with him? What if I end up somewhere I don’t want to be because I followed him and his career? What if I can’t  _ do  _ that?” Virgil asked, eyes wildly searching Remy’s. Remy cast his eyes downward and whistled through his teeth. 

 

“Look, man, I’m going through that with August right now. We’re both about to transfer and we don’t know if we’re headed in the same direction.” Remy shrugged. “The only thing I can suggest is to spend every moment together like it might be your last.” 

 

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Like you didn’t just pull that out of the cliche book.” 

 

“It’s worked so far.” Remy shrugged. “Look, you can’t hide from it forever. So, just keep living.” As an afterthought, Remy added, “That’s all we really can do.” 

 


	44. 21.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I will deadass pay someone to draw Logan, Patton and Emile taking the selfie from this chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) this is a tiny chapter, oop (HAPPY VALENTINES DAY)  
> 2) Clam and i wrote the ending the other day and I can safely say that it's a tear jerker and I still can't believe we're done  
> 3) you all have no idea how close the end is  
> 4) WE HAVE A NEW FIC COMING SOONNNNNNNNNNN so if you want more info stay tuned! 
> 
> \- Nox

Saturday morning meetings were always lively, if not for the fact that everyone sans Logan was in a tired delirium. Still, the weather was changing, and so were the lives of the arcade’s employees. 

 

“We have two announcements this morning.” Logan said, standing in the front of the break room. “Remy and… August? You don’t-” 

 

“Hush, L, it’s only for a short time.” Remy playfully stuck out his tongue at his manager before clearing his throat loudly. “Ahem.” 

 

Emile stifled a laugh, noticing August’s amused expression. “We’re transferring to the state school at the end of the summer. So regretfully, we’ll be leaving you all in a few months.” Remy announced, clasping August’s hand in his. 

 

“In addition to that… Emile, would you like to come up?” 

 

Emile nodded eagerly. 

 

“Well, Remy and August aren’t the only ones who are headed off to university.” Emile grinned from ear to ear. “I just confirmed my acceptance to Georgia State!” 

 

Remy let out a loud whoop while the others raced to give Emile a hug. Patton and Logan stood back, having already said their congratulations. 

 

They’d both been with Emile when he opened the acceptance letter the previous Monday. “He’s been holding onto this since last Friday.” Patton had said, a fond smile on his face as he watched Emile race to his room to grab it. “Said he wanted you to be there when he opened it.” 

 

“I’m honored.” Logan had replied, with an equally fond smile directed towards Patton. 

 

Emile nearly tripped in front of them, bouncing up and down. “It’s a packet, so you just know it’s good news. Who would give someone a packet that just has a rejection letter in it?” 

 

“Open it!” 

 

Patton had noticed Emile getting more and more antsy as spring went on. The younger boy, who often spent hours watching TV, had buried himself in his school work, searching for scholarships and making sure his grades remained the highest they could. When he wasn’t at the arcade, he was studying. 

 

Needless to say, it got even worse when the university announced that they had mailed out their letters of admission. He needed to be moving all the time, and it was impossible to get him to sit still during meals. 

 

Emile tore into the envelope, and opened the folder- 

 

“Congratulations Emile Picani,  _ you have been admitted to Georgia State!” _ Emile nearly shouted. “I did it, Patton!” He dove in for a hug, which Patton eagerly accepted.

 

“I’m so proud of you, kiddo.” 

 

“There was no doubt in my mind that you wouldn’t get it.” Logan said, giving Emile a pat on his back. “Congratulations, Emile.” 

 

“Come on, family selfie!” Patton exclaimed, scrambling for his phone. “Logan, get in here!” 

 

And, despite Logan’s protests, he couldn’t help but smile at the camera. 

 


	45. 21.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story of dylan and remus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone -  
> If you're reading this you might have noticed that I put this story on private for a few days. Recently I discovered that an app on the app store has been profiting off of my work and many others' without consent. Seeing as this fic has taken months of my time, suffice to say I was quite frustrated. If you use any app that allows you to read AO3 fics, please delete it.  
> Ao3 allows you to download fics as PDFs. That isn't something that you can do often with fanfic, and I'm hoping no one misuses the feature, but please know that I pour my heart into these fics and it hurts so much to know someone else is taking credit for them.  
> Love,  
> Nox

Duke wasn’t disruptive. 

 

Sure, he’d acted out a lot as a child, but so had Roman, so had Anton. When three little boys who are all the exact same age learn that the easiest way to stress out their parents is to create absolute chaos, that’s what they do. As opposed to, you know, reading. 

 

While Roman had focused that into his acting and Anton turned into a famous, constantly-traveling, pretentious critic, Duke remained, left to his own devices. 

 

And when left to his own devices, he could do marvelous things. 

 

Beyond the Thanksgiving incident, Duke had managed to take down a group of ten teenagers in laser tag by himself, mark the high score on most of the game consoles, and that was only at the arcade. He excelled in science in school, not because he was particularly good at math or memorization, but because he was determined to try everything that the rest of the class didn’t want to do. In first grade, he was the first to create a bubblegum ice cream that not only matched the flavor, but the chewy consistency as well. By sixth grade he had managed to fit his remote control car so that it could shoot the little Nerf gun while driving with the press of a button. 

 

Not to mention the fact that he nearly set off the smoke alarm every time he microwaved things, but that was beside the point.

 

For some reason that Dylan couldn’t quite fathom, Duke had a particular interest in the security camera man. 

 

Dylan was the only employee Duke could not immediately reach. He never came out when Duke was doing something. Virgil wasn’t too isolated now, and Logan had a tendency to race out quickly if something chaotic was happening. Thomas generally just liked to watch things go down, leaving Logan as the authoritarian.

 

Unlike the others, Dylan didn’t try to control Duke. He knew to let Duke ride out whatever hyperactivity he had in his system instead of interrupting it. Unless the two were in a staff meeting, Dylan was in his control room, voices from podcasts flowing gently from the tiny speaker on his desk. If Virgil wasn’t available to talk (which was increasingly becoming the case), Dylan tried to keep his distance from the others. He just wasn’t the social type. 

 

Which made it all the more exciting for Duke. 

 

One morning, Duke skipped into the security control room. Dylan didn’t bother to look before lazily asking, “What are you doing in here? You’re supposed to be watching the arcade from the ground.” 

 

“How did you know it was me?” 

 

“I set up a camera near the door. Don’t tell Logan - it’s not one of the authorized cameras.” Dylan mumbled, switching camera displays on the main screen. “You’re supposed to be on the ground.” He repeated. 

 

“What’s the point if you’re watching the cameras?” Duke leaned over Dylan’s shoulder. 

 

“So I can tell you to run after whoever’s trying to climb the machines instead of doing it myself and letting the rest of the arcade go unwatched.” Dylan rolled his eyes. He seemed to have this conversation with Duke quite often. 

 

“Hmm. Makes sense.” 

 

“You’re getting paid by the hour, you know.” Dylan grumbled. 

 

“And what if I’m on my break?” 

 

“Your break is exactly at noon, and you know how strict Logan is about schedules.” Dylan shrugged, making Duke move his chin from Dylan’s shoulder. 

 

“Don’t you ever get lonely up here?” Duke asked, poking the Freddy Fazbear hat that was on Dylan’s desk. Aside from the hat and a few personal items, Dylan’s desk was mostly barren. 

 

“I’m an introvert. Greetings are enough for me.” 

 

“Jeez, didn’t your parents teach you anything about manners?” Duke complained, sitting on the desk. Dylan glanced up briefly at the triplet before his eyes returned to the screens. 

 

“Don’t recall yours did either.” 

 

“I’m offended.” 

 

“Are you?” 

 

Duke looked down at Dylan. “How can you not pay attention to me?” 

 

Dylan sighed, closing his eyes. “I figure you’ll wear yourself out in attempts to annoy me, so I’m just waiting for that to happen. Now, get off my desk and go back to work.” 

 

“Meanie.” Duke pouted, but granted the other man’s wishes. If he wanted to be boring and not talk, then that was that. 

 

He’d find another way to get Dylan to talk to him. He just needed time. 

 

~~~

 

When Roman had returned to the arcade to finish off his last few weeks as a security guard, Duke decided to remain in his position. The only problem was that Roman didn’t particularly like working with his brother, and while Logan argued that they needed to be professional, he’d taken one look at the chaos they caused at Thanksgiving and closed his mouth. 

 

So Duke agreed to change positions. 

 

Although, Logan’s idea of changing positions was placing Duke in the back, with Dylan. Out of all the employees, Dylan was one of the few that stayed level-headed even when things got bad. If anyone could handle Duke, Dylan was the one.

 

Dylan didn’t bother protesting the change in placement. Maybe Duke was disruptive, but Dylan had met kids, people, who craved attention. He supposed that when you were a triplet everything needed to be equal: equal food, equal attention, equal love. 

 

“You’re not going to say anything?” Duke asked as the two of them walked into the security room after the morning meeting. “Not even complain?” 

 

“Why would I do that?” Dylan responded with a monotonous tone. He unlocked the room for the day and slipped into the darkness with ease. 

 

“Well, ‘cause whenever I get paired up with someone, the first thing they do is complain.” Duke shrugged, sitting on top of a spare cabinet that Dylan hardly used.  

 

“Oh.” Dylan wasn’t sure what to say. Being friends with Virgil had made Dylan assume everyone was closed off, but Duke was actually giving him clear answers. “Well, uh, I don’t… I don’t think that’s fair.” 

 

“It’s just the way it is.” 

 

From that moment forward, Dylan decided he wouldn’t mind Duke hanging around. After all, outcasts needed to stick together. 

 


	46. 21.4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My baby is graduating (even tho, Emile in-fic is older than me because he’s graduating before me in real time :’( )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all we are SO CLOSE to the end and that scares me  
> i love you all so much  
> thank you for the support  
> more info on upcoming stories coming soon  
> double update this next week but the second chapter will be our goodbye letters before the end which is next next week
> 
> \- Nox

“Hey, kiddo.” Patton’s cheery voice cut through Emile’s sleeping haze. “Wake up, it’s a special day today.” 

 

“Special..?” Emile murmured before his eyes shot open and he sat up without any further prodding. “Graduation! I have to get ready!” He leapt out of the mess of blankets and pillows on his bed. 

 

“We’re leaving in half an hour, let me know if you need help with your tie. Are you still okay with brunch after the ceremony?” Patton lingered in the doorway, watching with a smile as Emile ran around his room. 

 

“Yeah, that’s,” He nearly threw off his sleep shirt. “It’s fine.” 

 

“There’s a snack in the kitchen if you’re hungry.” Patton said before disappearing into the apartment hall. Emile paused for a minute, watching his brother walk away, before it hit him again that he was graduating. 

 

He nearly tripped over his feet racing into the bathroom, and he didn’t even mind the ice-cold water that came out of the shower head when he turned it on. He rushed through his morning routine, ruffling his hair dry before shoving on his glasses and his suit. 

 

Emile looked at himself in the mirror, making sure there weren’t any stains on his jacket. Not that anyone from school would see it, anyhow. It was the first fancy thing he’d had in a while, and he was determined to show it off today. 

 

“Ten minutes, kiddo.” Patton called from the kitchenette, where he was calmly tying his tie. Logan was due to appear any moment to join them to go to the graduation. They’d meet the others at the school (not that Emile knew they were coming). 

 

Emile let out a strangled noise, running the comb through his hair again and double checking his shirt to see if it was buttoned up straight. 

 

A knock came from the front door and Patton swung it open mere seconds later. “Hey, Lo. Emile’s just finishing up.” The two heard footsteps thudding around as Emile pulled on shoes a half-size too big and hung his tie loosely around his neck. 

 

“Patton, can you help me- Oh, hi, Logan.” He appeared in front of them with a sheepish smile. 

 

“Do you need help with your tie?” Logan asked, hiding a smile. “Here.” He tied it swiftly, then straightened Emile’s collar. Patton watched with a fond smile, wishing he could capture the moment. “Ready to graduate?” 

 

“Yes!” 

 

~~~

 

“Emile Picani.” The principal announced, and the younger man stepped forward, trying not to stumble in his black gown. The day was muggy as it was - half of the guys in his grade were wearing cargo shorts - but the black gown was really pushing it. 

 

“You deserve it.” The vice principal gave him a wink as she handed over his diploma. After a firm handshake, he faced the crowd of parents and friends.

 

From the stage, he saw every employee from Mind Palace in the back, cheering and screaming for him. There’d be time to laugh and celebrate with them later, but his grin couldn’t be wider as he moved the tassel on his cap from left to right. 

 

The rest of the ceremony seemed to fly by, and before Emile knew it, he was standing in a sea of black caps and gowns. “Congratulations, class of 2020!” The principal announced. The sea of students suddenly exploded, caps flying up in the air with a roar of cheers and shouts. 

 

Finding the Mind Palace employees proved to be difficult, until Emile spotted them in the far corner of the basketball courts. Remy was on August’s shoulders acting as a look out. “There!” Remy yelled, pointing towards Emile. “He’s there! GET HIM!” 

 

Within seconds, he was being lifted up onto Duke and Roman’s shoulders, laughing at their excitement. When he was finally on the ground again, Patton nearly tackled Emile with a hug. 

 

“You’re out of high school.” Patton grinned into Emile’s ear. “You’re an adult!” 

 

“You all came! But you needed tickets-” Emile’s eyebrows furrowed. 

 

“Logan and Thomas knew the vice principal from business school, apparently.” Virgil shrugged. “Congrats, kid.” He gave Emile a firm pat on the back

 

The nine of them ended up at a diner a few minutes away from the school. “I bet you’re happy to never step foot there again.” Remy joked as they walked inside. “I was when I graduated.” 

 

“Now I can work at Mind Palace full time until college!” Emile beamed, making the others chuckle. Patton ruffled his hair. “Wait… how are you all here? Aren’t we open on Saturdays?” 

 

“One closed Saturday won’t kill us.” Thomas laughed. “We’ll be back at it tomorrow.” 

 

“This way, please.” One of the hosts led them to a corner where a long table was set up. “We’ll be with you in a moment.” 

 

“How’s it feel?” August asked. 

 

“Weird. I still think I’m going back on Monday.” Emile shook his head with a small smile. “I don’t know how I feel about it. What about you guys? Did you have a graduation ceremony?” 

 

“Transferring isn’t a big deal, so we kinda just disappear from campus.” Remy shrugged. “I think normal college graduation is like high school graduation, though.” 

 

“It’s longer and just as boring.” Virgil deadpanned. “It’s really just a formality thing.” 

 

“Would it have been better if I was there?” Roman asked, leaning up to his boyfriend. Virgil looked at him with a slight smile, watching his hopeful face. 

 

“No.” Virgil’s smile grew bigger as Roman pouted, giving him a kiss as an apology. 

 

“One more summer. You ready?” Thomas asked, nudging Emile. 

 

“Of course.” 

 

The rest of the day was spent with the others, all squeezed into the Picani’s living room to play video games. Even though Emile missed his parents, he was still with his family. And that was enough. 


	47. 21.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> big decision time  
> tears will be shed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS THE PENULTIMATE CHAPTER OF MIND PALACE???? THE FUCK?  
> more cohesive words in the next chapter which is our final notes for you.   
> thank you for being so fucking supportive  
> i love you all  
> nox

Roman wanted to believe it would be a normal, calm, Monday morning, just patrolling the arcade. He was still waiting on the director’s final casting announcements, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t preparing. 

 

On the contrary, it felt like his life was already changing before his eyes, and he hadn’t even moved anywhere. The directors had assigned him a trainer to prepare his body for the film. They’d assured Roman that he wouldn’t leave the shoot every day dehydrated or famished, but also warned that there were preparations in order. 

 

Overnight, his diet changed to something one would liken to a peskitarian’s, which wasn’t awful. He actually preferred not to eat meat anyways. But this new diet made him hungrier for all the wrong things. The trainer allowed him cheat days, although all of the chips and pizza Roman and Virgil often consumed were confined to once every other week. 

 

In addition to the changes in his diet, the trainer also had him coming to the gym every morning at five AM. While his muscles - well,  _ everything, _ really - ached, Roman bit down his complaints. He’d gotten through auditioning and got the part. It actually didn’t feel like work. Soon, it was routine. 

 

And then there was Virgil…

 

Truthfully, neither of them had brought up the subject. Virgil always asked questions when Roman expressed excitement about the role, but it never felt like Virgil was even there anymore. Did that mean he wanted to break up? 

 

Across the arcade, Virgil was having a similar debate with himself. He’d told Princey that he could move with him to LA, but would he be happy there? They’d barely been dating for a few months. Was he even ready to drop everything for Roman, someone who wouldn’t be around too much if his career launched? 

 

Virgil didn’t want to leave Florida. No matter how much he griped about the weather and the people, he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. Besides, it wasn’t as if he could really go anywhere. He didn’t want to reset his social life in a new city. 

 

But if they did long distance, would they ever live in the same place after this? Could they even last long enough to think about living together long-term? 

 

What if Roman got bored? What if it just didn’t work out? What if he got tired of waiting for borrowed time with Roman? 

 

Their relationship wasn’t even that strong, considering the amount of arguments and stubborn qualities they each possessed. The only reason they spent so much time together was because they worked at the same place, and if they stopped, would they still put that much effort into the relationship? 

 

During one of his breaks, Virgil found himself standing in front of Dylan’s security office. When Duke opened the door, the Samson triplet noticed the look on Virgil’s face, muttering a quick excuse and walking to the lobby. 

 

After a few moments of Virgil sitting in what had been Duke’s seat, Dylan turned his chair. “Alright, I’ll bite. Seriously, what’s up with you? You came in this morning looking like a kicked puppy.” 

 

Virgil scrunched up his nose. “No, I didn’t.”

 

“Not the point. Are you here for advice, because I have five words: Remy is better at this.” He said, ticking off his fingers as he said the words. 

 

“Dylan, you’re my closest friend. Please.” 

 

The day shift guard sighed. “You’ve been warned.” He looked at Virgil exasperatedly, but he couldn’t find it in himself to kick Virgil out of the room. 

 

“Please don’t give me the details, I still need to be working this whole time.” Dylan turned back to his screens. 

 

“Well, it’s about Roman. I don’t know if I should go with him or stay here. If I go with him, I might be chasing after something that’ll fall apart. And if I stay here, I might regret what could have been.” 

 

“I said no details. Flip a coin.” Dylan suggested nonchalantly. Virgil’s mouth fell open. 

 

“This is a big decision, I can’t just  _ flip a coin-” _ Virgil started to sputter. 

“Fine, I’ll do it. Heads say you stay, tails say you go.” Dylan took one of the tokens on his desk and tossed it in the air. Virgil watched, the silver of the token glistening in the screens’ blue light. 

 

“What is it?” He asked, as Dylan slipped the token into his pocket. “Am I going?” 

 

“It doesn’t matter.” Dylan shrugged again, something he knew infuriated Virgil. “It doesn’t matter what the coin says, and it doesn’t matter what I say, either. Because for one thing, it’s your life, not mine. And anyways, your mind was made up before the token even landed back on the desk.” 

 

Virgil closed his mouth. He knew what he had to do now, in spite of whatever had been running through his head. 

 

“You’ll be okay. In my experience, this arcade has a tendency of bringing people together, not tearing them apart.” 

 

~~~

 

“We need to talk.” 

 

“The directors just called.” 

 

Roman and Virgil stared at each other, unsure of what to say next. They sat on Virgil’s couch on opposite ends. 

 

“You go first.” Virgil said. He needed the time to plan out what he was going to say, even if he had been doing that all afternoon. While the talk with Dylan had definitely cleared Virgil’s mind, the next hurdle was just figuring out what to say to Roman. 

 

“Well, they want me in LA for screen testing. Something about understanding the chemistry of me and the other actors.” 

 

“When?” 

 

“They’re flying me out on Sunday.” It was Monday now, so Virgil had six days. At least they hadn’t demanded Roman be out there immediately, but six days wasn’t a lot to work with…

 

Virgil tried to hide his disappointment. Regardless, it still came out in his voice. “O-oh.” He cleared his throat, trying to avoid the lump that was starting to form inside. “So what do we do?” 

 

“I don’t know.” Roman looked down at his hands in his lap. “This whole thing has been about what I want, the dreams I’m chasing after, but Virge… What do you want?” 

 

Virgil wanted to cry. Even after all this, Roman still valued Virgil’s opinion and wants over his own acting career. But the two were headed in different directions, and he wondered if all he was good for was tying Roman down from going after his dreams. 

 

“I want to stay here.” Virgil said slowly, afraid he might burst into tears at any moment. “But I don’t want to lose you.” He choked up towards the end of the second sentence, collapsing in on himself as he did. Watching Virgil so sad, so  _ scared, _ nearly made Roman’s heart break in two. 

 

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I’m not going to force you to suddenly move because of me.” Roman moved closer, wiping a stray tear off of Virgil’s with his thumb. “I could never ask you to do that for me.” 

 

“B-but if we don’t, we break up.” Virgil’s words were so quiet that Roman needed a second to hear them properly, and then another to control the way they tugged on his heartstrings. 

 

“Break up? I don’t think so. After everything we’ve been through, you don’t think we won’t survive a few months?” Roman laughed in an attempt to lighten the situation. “I won’t break up with you as long as you won’t break up with me. We can do a trial run, and if it doesn’t work, no harm. I’ll still love you.” 

 

There was a long pause after Roman finished talking. Virgil looked up at his boyfriend with wide eyes. 

 

“What?” Roman asked. 

 

“You said you love me.” 

 

“And I mean it, too. If you’re not comfortable saying it back-” 

 

“I love you too, Roman Samson.”


	48. Goodbye Mind Palace

02/11/20

 

I’ve thought about this letter a lot in the past few weeks, because I’ve been trying to figure out what to say. But I know I better write it now before it really hits me that Mind Palace Arcade is coming to a close. 

 

First off, I would like to thank my incredible writing partner, beta, editor, and internet bestie Clam. What started as a 3 AM post turned into something much more and I’m so grateful I plucked up the courage that day to DM them and ask to write this fic. They’ve kept me sane, let me cry over these characters, and for that I am forever in debt.  

 

Second of all, I want to thank YOU, the reader who is reading this. Wherever you are - if you’re looking at this in the middle of the day flat out in public or in the middle of the night curled up in bed, I’m so lucky that you selected this fic and chose to come along for the ride. Whether you were there from the beginning or if you’re just joining, your unwavering support means the world to me. I’m still overwhelmed by the amount of people who comment every week, and I’m so happy that my writing has the ability to entertain and make people fall in love with reading. 

 

Third, I’d like to thank Thomas, and this amazing world of characters that he has created, and that he has inspired for this fic. These characters kept me writing for days, and I could not imagine a better cast of people to write for. 

 

And finally, I’d like to take this time to announce that Clam and I aren’t going to stop working together. Starting a week after Mind Palace ends, we will be putting up Found Home, a Loxiety centered fic, so stay tuned for that! It’ll definitely be shorter than this, and any additional information will be placed in the author’s note of the final chapter. 

 

Nox

~~~

 

Dear readers,

 

Heya! I’m the editor, Clam. But you might know that from reading the authors notes. I'm the other half of the writing team dedicated to bringing you pain and suffering in the form of this fic. I’m crying right now but that’s a-ok! 

 

This story started out as a random au I posted on tumblr a long time ago. Other people had added little bits to the end to make it better, and I loved all of them! 

 

One time, Nox here had asked if she could write this out, and I agreed right away. Then, she asked if I wanted to be the editor and I was even more ecstatic to be apart of the writing!

 

The initial planning period was strange and we had gone back and forth a lot with the characterization, backstories, pacing, plot points, etc. Remus was a curve ball we didn’t anticipate at all. Neither was Anton but hey, here we are (I always pushed for angst). Certain details and plot points had been planned first and guaranteed, like Virgil and Romans falling out. Some stuff... wasn’t planned; Thomas being pushed to the back for example. 

 

There were a few mini plots I had wanted to write but didn’t know how to incorporate, so I turned them into ficlets! Which is where August came from. I had wanted to write something where Emile and Remy just vibed and he just. Happened?

 

I have no idea what Nox’s letter looks like, but I had wanted to share some of the process of this fic and how we got here!

 

Also!! We doing some angst found family stuff soon so stick around!! I know I’m excited!!

 

Anyways, hope y’all suffered from the cliffhangers and angst as much as I wanted you to,

 

Love,

Clam


	49. 22.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter.  
> Wow.  
> I love you all.  
> More at the final end chapter notes. 
> 
> Goodbye, Mind Palace

Roman was the first to leave out of all of them. And yet, it felt like they’d been saying good-bye for ages. 

 

“It isn’t goodbye. I’m getting you all seats at the premiere.” Roman repeated for the umpteenth time that morning. He’d gone to the arcade before opening hours, and the others just couldn’t seem to let him go. 

 

“You’ve been here since the beginning. In a way, you are the arcade.” Patton sniffled, trying not to cry. “You’re our prince.” 

 

Logan gave Roman a small smile. “You  _ did  _ do a lot to bring us together.” The manager tugged Patton closer, just a little, the other man leaning into his touch instantly. “And we’ll be there.” 

 

The others said their goodbyes quickly, with Virgil standing off to the side. “Ready?” He asked when Roman glanced back at his boyfriend. 

 

“Y-yeah.” 

 

The car ride was longer than either of them expected. They’d talked for most of the night before. Now, it was actually going that was difficult.

 

Virgil turned the car off the freeway, rolling up to the airport drop-off zone quietly. When he finally put the car in park, he looked at Roman. 

 

Roman had cried the minute they left the arcade, and Virgil knew he was going to be a mess until he got onto the plane. 

 

“So this is it.” Virgil said in disbelief. They’d spent the last week trying to avoid thinking of the inevitable, but instead, it only came faster. “You’re going.” 

 

“I am.” 

 

“Right.” Virgil took a deep breath. “Well, text me when you get on the plane, and when you land, and call me when you get to the hotel. Duke has your keys and Dylan should be moving in later on this week, so I hope you have everything packed away. I don’t exactly expect much from your brother.” 

 

Dylan and Duke had announced they were becoming roommates earlier that week, to the surprise of the others. When asked why, Dylan had only shrugged and joked that someone needed to keep Duke from blowing up the apartment. They’d be moving into Roman’s apartment in the next week or so. 

 

“Help me with my bags?” 

 

Virgil nodded, unlocking the car doors and getting out. 

 

To his credit, Roman hadn’t packed too much. It hardly looked like he was going anywhere for more than a few weeks, much less moving away. When the last suitcase was on the sidewalk, Roman looked at Virgil with sad eyes. 

 

“And you said I was going to be the one crying.” Virgil teased. Roman smiled and looked at the ground. 

 

“Hey. You’re gonna do great.” Virgil smiled, giving Roman one last kiss. “I love you.” 

 

“I love you more.” 

 

“Remember me when you’re famous.” 

 

“How could I forget someone like you?” Roman pouted, but grabbed the handles of his bags. 

 

“Video call when you get to the hotel.” Virgil was already walking back to the driver’s side of the car. 

 

“I will.” Roman promised, blowing Virgil a kiss before turning away. 

 

_ I will.  _

 

~~~

 

Emile was the second to leave the arcade’s nest, headed to Georgia State early for a summer bridge. The goodbyes hadn’t been as tearful, as Patton and Logan were flying up with Emile to get everything sorted there. The two seemed even closer after Roman’s departure, and Emile had a bet with Thomas that they’d hook up by the time winter break rolled around. 

 

(Logan did move in a few months later, but the jury was still out on if they were actually dating yet. If they were, they were doing a good job at hiding it.)

 

Remy and August were the last to leave. However, Remy arranged to come home when the arcade needed him, despite Thomas’s protests that he should enjoy the rest of college with August. His boyfriend had only smiled and admitted that Logan had offered to hire him during their school holidays. 

 

After Roman’s movie came out, his career did skyrocket. And with it, so did the arcade’s fame. He remained the security guard in between movies and traveling, and fans from all over came to see the place he had started at. 

 

Once Virgil was comfortable enough with the idea, he started working on the sets with Roman. His ability to think quickly and understand the lighting rigs and mechanics of the camera cranes gave him a spot on the production teams. They often attended premieres together, and tried to stay together in their work as much as possible. Whenever Roman went back to the arcade, Virgil was often right on his heels. 

 

Logan and the others stayed at the arcade, perfectly content with where they were. Remy and August eventually left the state for good, doing freelance work as they set out to travel the world. Emile stayed in Georgia, always making sure to come home for the holidays. 

 

~~~

 

In less than a few hours, they’d be together, for the first time in five years. From the group chat, Emile knew that Roman and Virgil were flying in commercially, and Remy and August were already there. 

 

The soon-to-be husbands had sent out invites to their summer wedding. Remy hoped that it would rain at the outside venue, although August (and Logan) argued the logistics of it. In the end, it was decided the college sweethearts would be married on one of the rooftops in downtown. 

 

Emile snapped a photo of the plane window, quickly sending it to the others. Replies flooded in. 

 

**_[Patton]: See you soon!_ **

 

**_[Emile]: I can’t wait._ **

 

He really,  _ really _ couldn’t. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's really over. 
> 
> It's been quite a ride, but we're not dead yet! Clam and I will be back at it again in a few weeks with a new found-family story, and I can't wait to share it with you all. 
> 
> From the bottom of my heart, I am truly grateful for your generosity. I hope you loved reading as much as I loved writing. Let me know in the comments what your favorite moments were! 
> 
> See you soon!  
> Nox


End file.
